RCMP Clinton Detachment commanding officer Cpl. Curtis Davis says several passers-by helped pull a victim from a burning vehicle near Chasm Road mid-evening on Dec. 1.
When two other vehicles stopped to help a more minor crash victim, a second single-vehicle incident caught the attention of these helpful samaritans when it impacted a power pole, flipped and burst into flames, he explains.
"It was at the foot of the power pole, and the power pole caught on fire."
Davis says the passers-by had then rushed over to help any occupants at the more serious collision.
"A window was broken to pull the driver out. One of the people who pulled the fellow out was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene and released; the driver was taken by ambulance to 100 Mile [District General Hospital]."
The crash caused the highway to be closed for four hours, and the power was also out in Clinton for that same period of time, he adds.
"Power flickered in Ashcroft, Cache Creek and 100 Mile that night."
Davis says the cause of the crash has not yet been determined, but he was on scene and did not find the road surface "extremely slippery" as some media had reported online.
No charges were laid, as there was only one vehicle involved, he adds.
Davis says the injured driver was treated at the 100 Mile District General Hospital, then transported to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops for further examination, where he was treated and released the following day.
The driver of the first, unrelated crash was uninjured and exited his vehicle on his own, he adds.