WATCH: A helicopter from the BC Wildfire Service helps put out the vehicle fire on Highway 4 on Aug. 14, 2018.
Helicopter bucketing was used to help put out a vehicle and bush fire on Highway 4 near Cathedral Grove on Tuesday afternoon.
The pickup truck fire was reported just before 2 p.m. after a truck collided with a tree. Port Alberni Fire Department chief Randy Thoen said all occupants were out of the vehicle by the time firefighters arrived on scene.
A vehicle on fire near Cathedral Grove on Aug. 14, 2018. Photo courtesy of Alan Fraser.
“The vehicle fire was fully involved,” Thoen said, adding that the fire did spread slightly into the bush.
Firefighters from Port Alberni extinguished the fire on the ground and one helicopter from BC Wildfire Service stopped the fire from spreading into the bush. A forestry crew assisted the Port Alberni firefighters.
By 3 p.m., the fire was out and the truck was getting towed out of the area. Firefighters and the forestry crew remained in the area to put out hot spots.
A truck is towed after it caught on fire near Cathedral Grove on Aug. 14, 2018.
Dorthe Jakobsen, a fire information officer from the Coastal Fire Centre, said some debris on the road did catch on fire.
A truck on fire near Cathedral Grove on Au. 14, 2018. Photo Courtesy of Barb Brown.
A truck on fire near Cathedral Grove on Au. 14, 2018. Photo Courtesy of Barb Brown.
The highway was closed in both directions after the fire but it has now reopened.
The cause of the collision is under investigation.
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