Firefighters are knocking on doors in east Maple Ridge alerting people to an injured bear in the neighbourhood.
The bruin was hit by a car on Lougheed Highway near Tamarack Lane around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
"He walked right in front of my car," said Susan Kirkconnell, while she waited for a tow truck near the Maple Ridge Hyundai dealership and surveyed the damage.
"It was a brief encounter with a bear. The fire trucks came and they are on the lookout for him because a bear that's injured is dangerous."
The bear damaged the front passenger side of Kirkconnell's car and dented a back door, leaving the car undriveable.
After it was hit, the bear limped into a green belt near the Albion Flats and headed past homes towards Planet Ice. It was spotted near a cul-de-sac off Tamarack Crescent, near 108B Avenue.
The Maple Ridge fire department and Ridge Meadows RCMP locked down Kanaka Creek Elementary School temporarily and evacuated nearby Reiboldt Park as a precaution.
The conservation service has been called.
Fire chief Peter Grootendorst said conservation officers will have to use dogs to track the bear.
"That's the only way they are going to find it."
• If you see the injured bear, call 911.