The city of Williams Lake will be short one sand truck after a morning fire on Mackenzie Avenue Feb. 12.
Emergency crews responded to the truck fire on Mackenzie Avenue Monday morning.
Rob Warnock, the city’s director of municipal services, confirmed he got the call from the truck driver at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The driver had been working clearing the streets since 5 a.m.
They were forced to bail out of the cab with flames and smoke coming out the front of the truck, Warnock said.
“His heart was still beating pretty good when I got down there.”
The city has several trucks, and a new replacement truck was ordered in June, 2022, which should be arriving soon. The plan was to sell one of the older trucks once the new one arrived, but they will be keeping it instead as they wait for a replacement truck for the one burned, which was only four or five years old. Generally the city keeps trucks about 20 years.
“We will be carrying our older trucks little longer now.”
Members of the Williams Lake Fire Department responded to the fire at Mackenzie Avenue and Maple Street to put out the fire. BC Hydro and Shaw Cable were also on hand as the fire may have damaged a power pole and other infrastructure.
The fire has been put out, but one lane of traffic is still being impacted. The power is also off to some homes and street lights in the area.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.