The Castlegar Fire Department responded to a dramatic vehicle fire on 2nd Street in downtown Castlegar Monday afternoon.

According to the vehicle’s owner, the SUV was parked and not running when it broke out into flames. The vehicle then began to roll forward and the owner and a neighbour were able to get some rocks under the tires to stop its progression, potentially diverting a much larger disaster.

Fire crews arrived within a few minutes of the 9-1-1 call and began to extinguish the fire using a bumper-mounted deck turret on the front of the fire truck. Once the flames began to subside, firefighters exited the truck and extinguished the fire using hand-line hoses.

No one was injured in the incident.

Fire Chief Sam Lattanzio says the fire started in the engine compartment and was most likely caused by an electrical malfunction.

Rescue 1 and Engine 1 responded to the scene along with 10 firefighters.

betsy.kline@castlegarnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter