Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jun 21/00) - Peter Mercredi will not soon forget his ride home from work last week.

While driving along Highway 4 near Giant mine Thursday evening, Mercredi noticed smoke coming out of the hood of his Chrysler Jeep sport truck.

An engine fire destroyed a Chrysler Jeep half-ton pickup near Giant Mines Thursday evening. The owner did not have fire insurance on the vehicle, which had an estimated value of $4,000 -- Tara Kearsey/NNSL photo

After pulling over to investigate, Mercredi opened the hood and was greeted by shooting flames.

"I tried to get dirt and sand to douse the fire but it didn't work," he said.

Almost instantly the gas line caught fire and the entire truck was ablaze within five minutes, said Mercredi, who was not injured by the flames.

Employees from Giant mine didn't take long to respond to the scene, and promptly called the Yellowknife Fire Department for help.

"There were some big flames shooting way over the hood," said Mercredi, who feared the fire would reach the power lines above.

Fortunately, firefighters had the blaze under control before any further damage was done.

Unfortunately, Mercredi does not have fire insurance on the vehicle, which he estimates to be worth about $4,000.

"I guess I'll have to get my car on the road. I didn't want it on the road that fast," he said.

However, Mercredi is relieved the truck's back tires, which are in good condition, were not touched by the blaze, even though the rest of the vehicle was completely destroyed.

Lieut. Clem St. Croix of the Yellowknife Fire Department said it's hard to determine what sparked the blaze until the truck is inspected.

"He's got public liability (insurance), there's no fire insurance on there so that almost rules out him burning it for any type of gain," said St. Croix.

He said there's not much that can be done with the truck now, but agrees with Mercredi's optimistic views.

"The rear tires are good," noted St. Croix.