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Halifax fire crew forced to put out fire — in their own truck

Photos show the damaged fire truck and the vehicle's engine after the truck caught fire. Roy Holett

When a Halifax fire crew responded to a call Thursday morning, they were forced to deal with an unexpected issue — a fire in the engine compartment of their truck.

“Unbelievable – a fire truck actually caught on fire,” mused Deputy Fire Chief Roy Hollett in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The crew was on its way to a call on West Porter’s Lake Road shortly after 9 a.m when their engine caught fire.

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The crew were able to contain the blaze with a dry chemical extinguisher until another crew arrived to finally put the fire out.

READ MORE: Halifax Fire services respond to large blaze in Fall River, N.S.

No one was hurt, but the vehicle will be out of commission until it is repaired.

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“We’ve had two fire stations catch fire … but fire trucks catching fire, I don’t recall and I’ve been with Halifax fire almost 18 years,” Hollett said.

“There’s a degree of irony, yes. When I heard the call come in on the radio, and heard an engine fire, I figured it was a car fire. And when the dispatcher confirmed the address and said it was a fire truck on fire, I slowed down and turned the radio up and thought, OK, did I actually hear a fire truck on fire?”

Fire department officials say they’re looking into what might have caused the blaze. They expect to know by next week how much repairs might cost.

— With files from Rob Roberts, The Canadian Press

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