Photos: Revelstoke firefighters rescued two rheas, but couldn’t save the ducks

Revelstoke firefighters had to search down one of two rhea birds that escaped from the back of a pickup truck that burst into flames on the Trans-Canada Highway at Revelstoke early Monday morning.

A Revelstoke firefighter returns with a rhea bird rescued after it fled from a burning pickup truck. Photo: Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services

The driver of the truck also managed to flee the vehicle without injury.

Unfortunately, an undetermined number of ducks that were in the back seat of the truck didn’t make it through the fire.

A second rhea bird is rescued from the scene. The birds can weigh up to 40 kilograms. Photo: Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services

The incident happened on Dec. 7 at about 3:15 a.m. near the intersection of Alpine Lane and the Trans-Canada Highway.

Firefighters work on the vehicle fire. Photo: Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services

“Upon arrival, fire crews found a pick up engulfed in flames and commenced suppression operations,” said Fire Chief Rob Girard. “During the fire attack, we observed two large birds escape the box of the pick up truck and run eastbound.”

After some searching and wrangling, the first responders managed to save both the rheas.

Successfully apprehending the birds is a real feather in the department’s cap, since according to this YouTube video, the flightless, Ostrich-like birds from South America can really move.

They dealt with the vehicle fire in about 20 minutes.

The driver is a farmer who was delivering the birds to the Lower Mainland.

What went afoul? In a media release, the fire chief said the fire was caused by “an undetermined electrical/mechanical fire.”