Sam Hubley never planned to stop in 100 Mile House before he had engine trouble, but thanks to the kindness of strangers he now wants to live here.
Hubley was driving from Alberta to Houston, B.C. last week to get his father, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and take him to his home in Port Alberni. Just outside of 100 Mile House on Highway 24, however, his truck blew a spark plug and Hubley limped into town and parked near the 100 Mile Laundromat.
He spent the last six days working on his truck, which he slept in with his dog Jake, before it caught fire Tuesday morning. Hubley had got the top half of his motor off, taken the spark plug out, put new threads in, fixed the wiring, bought a new battery and had everything put together by Monday night. He woke up around 1 a.m. and decided to throw the battery in and start his truck.
“Sure enough it started and sounded great. So I was sitting there all happy and was going to hit the road this morning and I looked up and saw flames coming up from under the hood,” Hubley said. “When I had the fuel bars off it must have spilt a little fuel there, which I should have caught, so she caught on fire.”
The fire gutted the engine and cab of his truck but thankfully spared most of his possessions in the truck bed and trailer.
“I almost had it out. I was out trying to smother it there with bottles of water but my jug was frozen so I was throwing handfuls of snow on there. Then a young feller comes from over across the way and called the fire department for me. Then he ran and got me a jacket because I was in my t-shirt,” Hubley said, adding that while 100 Mile Fire Rescue prevented him from grabbing what he could from the cab they did a great job on extinguishing it.
As he cleaned it up Tuesday morning and salvaged what he could, Hubley was visited by a steady stream of locals offering to help, which he said he found amazing.
One of those Good Samaritans was Kevan Ross, who offered to tow Hubley’s possessions up to Houston for him. Ross, who is training to be a truck driver, was willing to take Hubley up there Tuesday and house him while he cleaned up his truck
“I just heard he was down on his luck, so I figured I’d help him out,” Ross said. “Everybody gets down on their luck, someone needs to give them a hand, right?”
Andrew Hofmarks, owner of 100 Mile Laundromat for 18 years, said he first met Hubley when he was bent over his truck trying to fix it. Hofmarks brought him breakfast after his truck burned down and had let him use the laundromat’s shower when he needed it.
“He’s been doing everything himself, self-sufficient. An easy-going guy, one of those Maritimers that say ‘eh everything’s going to be all right.’ Even now after his truck caught on fire last night,” Hofmarks said.
Had he known that Hubley was sleeping in his truck, Hofmarks said he would have let him and his dog sleep in the laundromat. He brought some clothes to donate to Hubley as he’d lost what he had in the fire. Overall, Hofmarks said the community has been finding ways to help Hubley and said he would be a good fit in 100 Mile House.
Hubley, a builder by trade who does drywall, painting and sandblasting, was upset he lost a lot of his notes for the book he’d been working on about having his identity stolen three years ago.
Hubley didn’t take up Ross’s offer immediately, saying he plans to clean up and salvage what he can from his truck and then contact ICBC to see if insurance will cover it. He’s hopeful he’ll be able to get a new truck and hit the road again and get up to Houston.
“This town is unbelievable and I got to thank you all for showing up well-wishing, with donations, with dogfood and worrying about us. I want to move here, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “I’ve broken down in towns before and been chased around by the police, but here people have just been so kind and friendly. Thank you all, I appreciate you so much.”
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Sam Hubley and his dog Jake escaped the fire that consumed his truck’s engine and cab safe and sound. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Sam Hubley and his dog Jake escaped the fire that consumed his truck’s engine and cab safe and sound. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
The interior of Sam Hubley’s truck. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Sam Hubley’s burnt out truck Tuesday morning. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Jake the dog roams the parking lot of the 100 Mile Laundromat Tuesday morning. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Sam Hubley lost his truck in a vehicle fire early Tuesday morning but received a wellspring of donations from the local 100 Mile House community that same morning. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
