Pitt Meadows fire department rescued a man and his dog in the early hours of Friday, after his vehicle crashed into an Esso pump, catching fire.

Two separate fire incidents near the Pitt River bridge closed down both lanes on Hwy. 7 earlier today.

At around 3:50 a.m. on Feb. 4, the Pitt Meadows fire department’s chief Mike Larsson responded along with his crew to what came in as a commercial structure fire in Pitt Meadows at the Pitt River Bridge. When Larsson, along with the assistant fire chief arrived on scene, they realized that there were two separate incidents near the Esso just off the Pitt River bridge.

A semi-truck was on fire with small flames on the backside of the truck on the highway. Just about 100 feet away, there was another motor vehicle incident.

A small pickup truck which had driven past the bridge and just as it got off the bridge, had crashed into the gas pumps at the Esso stations, was on fire.

“The pickup had crashed into the pumps, from that crash there was a fire; one pump was seared off and the fire was touching the awnings and the roof. The vehicle was on fire and there was an occupant inside,” he said.

The first crews arrived on scene and dealt with the fire at the Esso station.

“The male driver couldn’t get out on their own, injuries sustained from the crash, smoke inhalation, We smashed the windows, got his dog out first and grabbed him and pulled him to safety,” he said. The individual was going in and out of consciousness while the crew performed first response and awaited the arrival of the ambulance.

A second crew had also arrived and responded to the semi-truck fire.

The RCMP closed down the bridge between 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. to allow the fire department space to put the fire out and carry out their investigation.

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“It could’ve been a lot worse for the occupant of the vehicle. We were thankfully able to get him out and the ambulance transported him to the hospital,” said Larsson, adding that the crews put out both fires in half-an-hour.

The fire department however is not yet certain how the semi-truck fire was started.

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