Cargo of fireworks explodes into hour-long light show after Highway 1 crash near Hope, B.C.

A collision on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Vancouver resulted in an hour-long light show on Thursday night after the crash caused a cargo of fireworks to ignite.

RCMP said a semi-trailer travelling eastbound collided with a pickup truck towing a trailer full of fireworks that was parked on the side of the road about 10 kilometres west of Hope, B.C.

The crash, which happened around 10 p.m. PT, caused the fireworks to go off, resulting in flashes and explosions above the highway.

Cpl. Carmen Kiener with Chilliwack RCMP said the incident closed Highway 1 eastbound for about an hour, until the fireworks eventually stopped.

"Obviously, the fireworks were quite the display to passerby motorists," she said.

'Raging inferno'

Ryan Kuhn said he was on his way to Hope, about 125 kilometres east of Vancouver, on Thursday night when he saw "a raging inferno of fireworks."

"I came around a corner and, well, saw fireworks. It seemed very strange for 10 o'clock at night," Kuhn told CBC News.

Crash involving fireworks lights up B.C. highway

1 year ago

Duration 2:14

A collision involving a cargo of fireworks on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Vancouver resulted in an impromptu light show.

Kuhn said vehicles on the highway slowed down or stopped to watch the fireworks, which he described as the "best fireworks show I'll ever see."

"It was a bit of mayhem," he said, describing the semi-trailer, which he said had caught on fire.

Video taken by people at the scene shows fireworks exploding high in the sky above the highway, as continuous pops and bangs are heard.

RCMP and B.C. Emergency Health Services said one person was taken to hospital.

Kiener said the drivers were the only occupants of the vehicles, and that investigators are continuing to determine the cause of the crash.