A quick-thinking driver of a flaming pickup truck avoided a disaster by moving the vehicle away from gas pumps Sunday afternoon, according to North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Mark Kirko.

The chief explained that a woman was driving to Anacortes with her toddler and a load of vinyl windows when she sensed that something was not right.

The woman pulled over at the Seabolts gas pumps on State Highway 20, near Deception Pass Bridge.

She got out to check on the load but noticed that fire was coming out from under the hood.

The woman quickly drove the pickup away from the pumps and exited the truck with her son, Kirko said.

An ambulance crew happened to be driving by and reported the vehicle fire. The fire department was dispatched at 1:12 p.m.

Kirko said he and an engine crew arrived within about 10 minutes and got the fire under control in about three or four minutes.

He called the Mount Erie fire department for assistance because of the potential danger from the proximity to gas pumps.

Seven firefighters from North Whidbey and two from Mount Erie were at the scene.

The firefighters’ stay at the scene was longer than normal because of a minor accident in front of the fire due to “lookie loos,” he said.

A driver apparently slowed to take a cell phone photo of the smoking wreck and was rear-ended.

No one was injured in either the fire or the crash.

The pickup was a total loss.