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.
“It’s like a police car getting broken into.”
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.
The crew were able to contain the blaze with a dry chemical extinguisher until another crew arrived to finally put the fire out.
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No one was hurt, but the vehicle will be out of commission until it is repaired.
“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