Thanks to some eagle-eyed onlookers, no one was injured in a motorcycle fire that was sparked in a Sidney neighbourhood Thursday morning.
Around 9:40 a.m. on July 2, the Sidney Volunteer Fire Department, Sidney/North Saanich RCMP and BC Emergency Health Services paramedics were called to a motorcycle fire in the 9300-block of Lochside Drive.
@SidneyVFire firefighters responded to a motorcycle fire this morning in the 9300 block of Lochside Drive. The driver was not injured and traffic was impacted for a short time. @SidneyRCMP @BC_EHS #yyjtraffic #yyjnews #sidney #yyj #drivebc pic.twitter.com/cZhy0TId0G
— SidneyVFire (@SidneyVFire) July 2, 2020
Deputy Fire Chief Mike Harman, who was on scene during the incident, said the driver had been riding the motorcycle when it caught fire. The male rider was heading northbound into Sidney after his “first ride of the season” when onlookers spotted the fire, he explained.
Pedestrians and other drivers began jumping around and honking to get the motorcyclist’s attention and he managed to hop off just in time, Harmon said. He added it was “perfect luck” that the motorcyclist was uninjured.
Traffic was impacted in the area while crews got the situation under control, though Harman said there wasn’t much to burn on the motorcycle so the fire didn’t last long. An investigation is underway but the fire is presumed to be related to a malfunction rather than suspicious behaviour.
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