Firefighters in Nanaimo were called upon to snuff out a car fire at B.C. Ferries Departure Bay Terminal this morning.
The blaze happened shortly before noon Wednesday (June 15) just after the driver of a Volkswagen Passat drove past the ticket booth.
“The fellow had just gone through the toll booth and saw a little smoke coming from his glove box and a little bit of flame and burning plastic dripping,” said Capt. Ennis Mond, Nanaimo Fire Rescue chief fire prevention officer.
The vehicle suffered heavy damage to its interior from the spreading fire before it was snuffed out.
Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries spokeswoman, said the driver was in the ferry boarding line-up, but managed to pull his car away from other vehicles before exiting it. Ferries employees called Nanaimo Fire Rescue.
“The fire department did an awesome job,” Marshall said. “We phoned them. They were there within minutes and had the fire out within minutes, a great response by those guys.”
Marshall said the 12:50 p.m. sailing to Horseshoe Bay departed 19 minutes behind schedule due to a combination of the incident plus heavy traffic volume.
No one was injured. The car was towed away just before noon and the cause of the fire is under investigation.