A semi-truck that caught fire early this morning on the Coquihalla Highway had the highway closed to southbound traffic for several hours, from approximately 1 to 5 a.m.
Among those stalled on the freeway was former politician Stockwell Day, who was at various times a cabinet minister in Alberta, leader of the Canadian Alliance, and MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla.
“We were coming over the crest of the hill on the highway south, and there was a red glow at the top of the hill,” Day told the Herald.
“Traffic was backing up, and something was obviously on fire. As we sat there and watched and listened, we heard the tires of the truck exploding and then the truck itself exploded.”
He said that the flames were too high for anyone to attempt passing the truck, and emergency crews responded in good time, coming from the south.
“It was quite a sight when we finally did pass it there were still some flames,” said Day. “It was on fire, but it was literally just a long pile of ash on the highway. It had disintegrated.”
Day said that he had spoken with a truck driver who was in communication with the truck behind the one that caught fire. He was told the driver was able to get out of the truck.
