Emergency crews are on scene of a vehicle fire, westbound at 264th Street on the Trans Canada Highway in Langley Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 9, 2021. The highway was shut down to make way for an air ambulance. (TOL Fire/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Emergency crews are on scene of a vehicle fire, westbound at 264th Street on the Trans Canada Highway in Langley Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 9, 2021. The highway was shut down to make way for an air ambulance. (TOL Fire/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Witnesses to a vehicle fire on the Trans-Canada Highway in Langley on Tuesday afternoon said they reported seeing the hood of the vehicle “explode” before it crashed into a ditch.

Emergency crews were forced to shut down Highway 1 westbound near 264th Street around 12:45 p.m. to make way for an air ambulance to transport the lone occupant of the vehicle, the driver, a man in his 40s from the Lower Mainland.

Emergency crews have shut down a section of the #Highway1 WB near 264th St. in #LangleyBC to make way for an air ambulance. Story to come. @LangleyTimes

Photo: Submitted. pic.twitter.com/BucwiGVVPD

— Joti Grewal (@JotiGrewal_) November 9, 2021

One person suffered second and third degree burns to a large percentage of their body, according to assistant fire chief Andy Hewitson.

“Fire crews focused on the vehicle fire as BC Ambulance Service treated the patient,” he said. “We have shut down the highway to land the air ambulance westbound at Highway 1.”

Three paramedic ground units, a paramedic supervisor and an air ambulance responded to the scene, said Jane Campbell, communications officers with BC Emergency Health Services.

“One patient was transported to hospital in critical condition via air ambulance,” she added.

Cpl. Mike Halskov with BC Highway Patrol confirmed the man was taken to the burn unit at Vancouver General Hospital, but said the cause of the incident is still under investigation.

The highway was cleared and re-opened to traffic around 6 p.m.