A vehicle in The Offspring’s touring convoy burst into flames on Saturday while en route to Rimouski, Quebec, but fortunately all members of the band and crew escaped unharmed.
As they explain in a new social media post, though, many of the crew’s belongings were destroyed.
“While traveling through Canada yesterday, something flew off the vehicle in front of us and became wedged underneath one of our SUVs and it caught fire,” the band write, in a message accompanying video footage of the burning car.
“Everyone got out safely, but the luggage, passports, laptops and pretty much everything else was destroyed.
"We are happy to report that everyone is doing ok and we've made it safely to Rimouski and will be performing tonight at Les Grandes Fetes TELUS. Hope to see everyone there!” The veteran punk rockers later performed at the festival as announced.
In a post on his personal Instagram account, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman expresses his gratitude that no one was injured in the fire.
“No one was hurt,” he says. “Everyone got out of the vehicle unscathed. Unfortunately about half our crew lost all their belongings in the fire, including luggage, computers, and passports. But it could’ve been much worse. The band and I are so thankful and relieved that all involved are OK.
“No one is sure what started the fire yet, but the SUV hit something big and heavy, possibly a lost trailer hitch, and within seconds the vehicle was in flames. You can see from the video that they didn’t even get off the highway before everyone had to bail. No time to save any belongings. Scary shit!
“Our crew do all the heavy lifting so that we look and sound as good as possible when we take the stage. They’re travel and workdays are always longer and more arduous than ours, and we can’t thank them enough for all they do. To see them have to go through something like this is heartbreaking and frightening. I am so glad they are all okay!”
The Offspring are currently on tour in support of their latest LP, Let the Bad Times Roll. The current trek is due to wrap up this coming Saturday (August 13) at Vancouver’s Ambleside Festival, whereafter the band will visit Japan for this year’s Summer Sonic. For a full list of dates, head to the band’s website.
