
UPDATE: 5:20 p.m.
A passing motorist confirms a vehicle fire on Highway 97 near Crystal Waters Tuesday afternoon involved a tow truck towing a van.
The witness says just after 1 p.m. the driver's side front wheel of the towed vehicle caught fire.
"The tow truck driver was frantically trying to disconnect while the fire was going," says the witness, who was passing in the opposite direction.
"Unfortunately, I had no extinguisher and was travelling in the opposite direction. By the time I got to Winfield, a fire truck was on its way."
ORIGINAL: 1:30 p.m.
Firefighters have been called to vehicle fire on Highway 97 between Vernon and Lake Country.
An older model General Motors van that is burning in the merge lane near Crystal Waters.
Reader photos from the scene show a tow truck is already on scene.
Given that the van is pointed in the wrong direction, the tow truck may have been pulling the van, but doesn't appear to be hooked up to it anymore.