A pair of quick-thinking Kamloops boaters did their bit to stop a grass fire from spreading on Saturday afternoon.
Koyne Watson and Tasha Hunt were out on the South Thompson River in their jet boat when they saw smoke rising from the river鈥檚 edge.
鈥淲e were like 鈥榟oly crap, it that a fire?鈥欌�� Hunt said.
It turns out it was and Watson leapt into action, using his motor to spray water on blaze.
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鈥淗e took a pass at it and he hit the flames. The flames started to kind of go down,鈥� said Hunt. 鈥淪o he kept going and doing pass after pass until the fire trucks came.鈥�
Lorrie Jane Arnott watched it all with her husband and daughter from a nearby boat.
FULL VIDEO: Boaters douse Kamloops brush fire
鈥淲e could see the 鈥榗igarette boat鈥� as they are called whipping around dousing it with it鈥檚 鈥榬ooster tail鈥� of water spray,鈥� said Arnott.
Watson and Hunt couldn鈥檛 believe they鈥檇 actually doused a fire.
鈥淭here were people in boats and cheering. It was hilarious!鈥� Hunt laughed. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe we shot the water up that high.鈥�
Most boats wouldn鈥檛 have been able to hit the flames, high up on the river bank as they were.
鈥淸Watson鈥檚] got an inverter that makes it jet up as high as he wants,鈥� said Hunt.
Arnott was amazed.
鈥淲e have a regular ski boat and there鈥檚 no way we could have gotten that close with our propellor down,鈥� said Arnott. 鈥淣o one else could have done that.鈥�
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While Watson did have to replace a rubber trim on his boat, Hunt said that it didn鈥檛 sustain any serious damage.
鈥淲e were running super super hot because of how hard [Watson] was revving the engine,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淪o it took us a bit to cool it off.鈥�
For her part, Arnott is grateful that Watson showed up when he did 鈥� like many, she has friends and family affected by the wildfires.
鈥淢y friend鈥檚 family just lost their home and property and now my in-laws who live by Sheridan Lake may be evacuated,鈥� she said.
鈥淏.C. is on fire and it鈥檚 like a war zone.鈥�
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