Fire destroys haul truck at Meadowbank gold mine

A haul truck was destroyed by fire Mondaynight at the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, Nunavut.

The operator was able to escape and sought refuge in a nearby bulldozer.

"The truck was fully engulfed with the fire and burnedmostly all the way throughthe night as it was just too hot for the emergency response team to extinguish," said Dale Coffin.

The house-sized haul truck cost millions of dollars but Coffin says the company is just thankful no one was injured.

Production at the mine was not affected.

The company is examining the rear of the truckto determine what caused the fire.

"It appears it could have been caused by a rock that was wedged between the tire that created friction that eventually ignited a fire but that's something that they will have to investigate further."

The open-pit mine owned byAgnico-Eagleis located 70 kilometres north of Baker Lake.