‘Driving through a little slice of hell’: B.C. residents post video driving fuel through Williams Lake wildfire

The driver of a truck hauling fuel to the Williams Lake Airport to refuel helicopters going to fight the fire describes driving through the flames as like “driving through a little slice of hell.”

Driver Trevor Clark and co-worker Alex Hinsche were hauling fuel from Prince George around 10:30 p.m. Friday.

A number of fires near Williams Lake scorched more than 1,000 hectares of land and chased hundreds of residents from their homes on Friday.

Clark and Hinsche were about two minutes from the airport when a wall of flame sprung up around them.

FULL COVERAGE: Wildfires burning around B.C.

That’s when Hinsche started filming.

“The heat was insane,” he said. “It was just radiating all the way through the vehicle. The flames were very, very close to the tank around our trailer.”

“It was really surreal, but at the same time it was really terrifying that we were right by forest fires.”

Hinsche said they kept going because they knew they were going to help fuel up the helicopters to fight the fires.

“Knowing that there’s a lot of people on the front lines, knowing that there’s people in the helicopters, that we could help them out and do anything that we can so that they can put the fire out is what means a lot to us,” he said.

1:33 Wildfire burning near Princeton has grown to 1,500 hectares

• Wildfire burning near Princeton has grown to 1,500 hectares
• Gustafsen wildfire continues to burn near 100 Mile House
• 171 wildfires burning across British Columbia: Fire official
• Thousands of people evacuated due to wildfires: Cariboo official
• Princeton Wildfire evacuations expanded
• Ashcroft WildfiresAshcroft fire flares up, forcing people and animals to flee
• Wildfire burning close to Williams Lake Airport
• Wildfire encroaching on Cache Creek
• Wildfire Near 100 Mile House Grows in Size

Previous Video

Next Video