NNSL (May 28/97) - Imagine Wallace Burke's surprise, Friday, when a renegade tire from a van narrowly missed hitting him, and then bounced its way through a parking lot, causing about $3,000 in damage.

Burke, a delivery man with Igloo Building Supplies, was on his way out of the office at noon, when a wheel came off a van travelling by the store on Old Airport Road.

He said the tire was moving so fast he didn't know what it was until it started bouncing off trucks.

The tire dented the box of a company pickup truck, tore a small hole in a fence adjacent to the parking lot and then bounced off a Jeep before rolling to a stop.

"It happened pretty quick," said Igloo manager John Issler. "My delivery guy was right here when it happened," he added, pointing to a spot near the pickup.

RCMP Const. Ken Davidson interviewed Issler and the van's driver but didn't indicate whether or not charges were being contemplated.

After losing a wheel, the van continued down the road for about a block before pulling off to the side.

"She's pretty upset about the whole thing," Issler said of the van's driver.