Coquihalla Highway reopened after semi truck fire Friday

The Coquihalla Highway was forced to close between Hope and Merritt just hours after it reopened Friday afternoon, as a semi truck fire threatened to spread to the surrounding forest. (Ashlynne Riddoch)

The Coquihalla Highway was forced to close between Hope and Merritt just hours after it reopened Friday afternoon, as a semi truck fire threatened to spread to the surrounding forest.

Images from the scene shared with CTV News show thick black smoke rising from the truck, the front end of which can be seen in flames.

The B.C. Wildfire Service told CTV News one of the helicopters fighting the Mine Creek wildfire spotted the semi truck blaze and provided support to put out a spot fire in the brush adjacent to the truck before it spread.

The closure caused by the truck fire lasted just a few hours, with DriveBC posting on social media that the route had fully reopened by 9:40 p.m.

The stretch of Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt was previously closed from Wednesday afternoon until noon on Friday due to the Mine Creek blaze, which is still burning out of control on both sides of the highway.

While the route has since reopened again, stopping is still prohibited between Hope and Merritt.

The truck fire was just one of three incidents that closed various portions of Highway 5 on Friday.

Farther north, near Kamloops, a two-vehicle collision shortly before 9 p.m. forced the closure of the highway in both directions near the Inks Lake turn-off.

DriveBC reported that incident was clear shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday.

According to B.C. Highway Patrol, the crash involved a wrong-way driver and killed two people. Three others were taken to hospital with serious injuries, BCHP said.

• Read more: 2 dead, 3 injured after wrong-way driving collision in Kamloops, B.C.

The third closure happened north of Valemount around 10 p.m. A vehicle fire south of Tete Jaune Cache closed the highway in both directions. It has since reopened to alternating one-way traffic, according to DriveBC.