Alberta animal rescue looking for support after vehicle fire [Video]

It was an unfamiliar route for Marc Heethuis-Dubois, on a familiar mission — giving animals a second chance at life.

But on his way home to Boomer’s Haven Animal Rescue & Sanctuary in Irricana, Alta.,  after picking up two stray cats from Lethbridge, he noticed his vehicle was giving him trouble.

“I started losing power,” Heethuis-Dubois told Global News. “And then I started to think, ‘I’m in the middle of nowhere.’”

Soon, being without a working vehicle would be the least of his worries.

“The moment I pulled into (a rest stop), I noticed it was smoking.

“I popped the hood and got out to look and there was an orange glow coming from under the hood.”

Heethuis-Dubois popped the hood to discover his vehicle was on fire.

After three frantic tries to get into the cargo area to save the cats, he was able to pull them out in …