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Central Okanagan  

Logging truck fire

UPDATE 12 P.M. -The new stretch of Highway 97 between Oyama and Lake Country was shut down for a short period of time Monday morning while fire crews from Lake Country dealt with a logging truck fire.

Lake Country deputy fire chief, Brent Penner, says the trucker was heading south along an uphill stretch of the highway when he noticed fluids spewing from under the hood onto his windshield.

Penner says the driver thinks he blew a radiator hose.

"There was lots of steam and what he thought was water vapour," says Penner.

"He looked for a safe part of the highway to pull over, got out of the truck and proceeded to check it. At that point in time he noticed a lot of smoke and grabbed a fire extinguisher...which really didn't do anything."

Penner says fire trucks were dispatched from both Lake Country and Oyama to help put out the blaze.

Crews were able to put out the fire before it could spread to the logs on board or the nearby forest.

"In that area there is a lot of dry grass but we were very lucky today that the weather was on our side. The fire and smoke was going straight up - there wasn't any wind pushing up into the bush."

Penner says the driver escaped injury, however, his brand new 2013 rig was totally destroyed by the fire.


Traffic is slowed on Highway 97 near Oyama after a logging truck burst into flames Monday morning.

The fire was confined to the cab of the truck and was quickly extinguished by crews on scene.

We’ll have more details when they become available.

 

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