First responders deal with vehicle fire on Highway 97 near Oyama Thursday. (submitted photo/Facebook)

By Pete McIntyre

Highway 97

Highway vehicle fire suspected to be due to mechanical failure

May 2, 2024 | 10:40 AM

UPDATE 3 p.m.

Police remind the public to check the conditions of their vehicles following the car fire on Highway 97 Thursday.

Lake Country RCMP said in a release that there was no indication of the cause of the vehicle fire on the highway north of Oyama, but did state that people should “conduct routine maintenance before the busy summer driving season.”

Police noted the vehicle that caught fire did hit a truck when it rolled backward down the hill, causing minor damage to the truck, but adding the vehicle did not strike anyone else afterwards.

Police said there was no criminality suspected in this case.

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The vehicle fire was reported at 9:30, and police say the southbound lanes were closed for approximately an hour as firefighters doused the flames and officers investigated the scene.

UPDATE 1:30 p.m.

Highway 97 near Oyama was closed temporarily due to a vehicle fire Thursday, May 2.

The Lake Country Fire Department received a call about a vehicle fire in the southbound lane of the highway between Winfield and Oyama at around 9:35 a.m.

“What we had was likely a mechanical failure causing a car fire at the top of the hill on Highway 97,” Deputy Fire Chief Brent Penner told Vernon Matters in an email.

“Members of the public stopped to lend a hand. But prior to the fire truck’s arrival, the vehicle’s transmission failed and the car started rolling backwards against oncoming traffic for a distance – luckily following the cement guardrail on the west side of the highway until it stopped when reaching the flats. This caused several fires from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill. One member of the public had an injury to their foot,” Penner said.

Firefighters arrived on the scene and discovered the vehicle was fully ablaze.

The southbound lane of the highway was closed as crews put out the car fire, as well as attacked the two spot fires in the area.

The person who had their foot injured was treated by paramedics.

Once the fires were out, the RCMP took over the scene to investigate the fire, and the southbound lane was reopened to traffic.

Update 10:50 a.m.

DriveBC says Highway 97 has reopened north of Oyama to one southbound lane after a vehicle fire.

Motorists are asked to watch for crews in the fire area, and to expect delays.

Original story
Vehicle fire shuts down highway

Traffic on Highway 97 south of Vernon was stalled Thursday morning as first responders dealt with an emergency incident.

RCMP, Fire-Rescue and BC Ambulance responded to a vehicle on fire in the southbound lanes near Pelmewash Parkway in Oyama around 10 a.m.

Traffic in both directions was stopped as a precaution.

One driver said they had been waiting in a lineup for 45 minutes.

Site of vehicle fire on Highway 97 (Drive BC image)

At last update DriveBC said the southbound lanes would be closed until 10:45 a.m. for vehicle recovery.

Vernon Matters has reached out to Lake Country Fire-Rescue for more details on the incident.