A trip through the Rockies turned into a disaster for an Austrian woman after her van caught fire on Maligne Lake Road beside Medicine lake.

Michaela Baumgartner of Austria was travelling across the Canadian Rockies in a van she borrowed from her boss when the engine caught fire beside Medicine lake.

Baumgartner was driving in a 1978 Ford Econoline van she had borrowed from her boss, after working for the summer at a guest ranch in British Columbia. After starting the van, smoke billowed from under the hood and the fire began to spread. Baumgartner was able to remove a propane stove and her personal papers from the van, but lost the rest of her possessions.

The fire burned so hot, pieces of metal melted into the pavement. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Passers by had to drive into cell phone range before contacting the fire department. Fire crews found the van completely engulfed in flames by the time they arrived. 

“The fire was in the engine and was fully engulfed by the time we got there,” said Greg Van Tighem, Jasper Fire Chief, who said there was no saving he vehicle by the time they arrived on scene.

“It was a total write off,” he said. “Everything she owned was in the van.”

Emergency crews took Baumgartner to Jasper, where she received assistance. She was not harmed.

“She was extremely shaken up. Everything she owned in Canada was in the van,” Van Tighem said.

Following the fire, fire crews, EMS and victim services helped Baumgartner recover.

Fire crews had to immediately turn around and respond to a vehicle roll over east of Moose Lake. The truck was carrying interior doors when it rolled.

“It was a big moving truck. It looks like it touched the shoulder and lost control,” Van Tighem said.

The highway was closed periodically while crews moved the truck, which tool four and a half hours.

The driver suffered minor injuries during the accident.