A pickup truck from the Department of Fisheries burst into flames near Coquitlam Centre Friday afternoon shortly before 1:30 p.m.
Conservation officer Launi Davis had been working at Belcarra Regional Park and, en route to Surrey, was crossing through the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Pinetree Way when she said she saw smoke coming out from under the hood. When she pulled over and lifted up the hood, fire had engulfed the engine.
“I just kept walking and called 911,” she told The Tri-City News.
People driving by approached to help but Davis told them to get away, warning them she had a box of flares in the seat of the truck.
“They’re basically sticks of dynamite,” she said of the flares, adding, “I thought this only happened in movies.”
Coquitlam Fire and Rescue responded shortly after, dousing the flames before the fire spread to the inside of the vehicle.
Nobody was hurt but firefighters shut down two two lanes of traffic heading east on Lougheed until they could remove the burned vehicle.
