Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Aug. 14, 2020:
Trucker named Highway Angel for pulling driver from burning minivan
The Truckload Carriers Association has named Samuel Rojas, of Port Hueneme, California, a Highway Angel for pulling a driver from her burning minivan.
Rojas had just picked up a load and was heading south on U.S. 95 in Nevada on May 27 and decided to get on Highway 163 toward Kingman, Arizona. As he traveled up a steep incline, a minivan passed him, and he noticed fire coming from beneath the van.
“I laid on my air horn and city horn to get her attention,” Rojas said. Unfortunately, it didn’t get her attention, so he called 911 and reported his location.
“When I got to the top of the hill, I saw the minivan was on the side of the road, completely in flames.” He immediately slowed. “As soon as I hit 10 mph, I dropped the truck into neutral and pulled the parking brake and jumped out.”
He ran over to the driver’s side door of the van and saw the driver struggling to get her dog. It was getting hot in the van, and he told the woman to leave her dog. He got her out as the flames grew more intense and moved her to the steps of his truck away from the fire. He then considered going back for the dog.
“I asked her how much fuel was in the vehicle,” he said, as he was worried about it exploding. “She said she had just filled it up. I apologized but told her I couldn’t take that kind of risk for a dog. She said she understood. Then she began complaining about how hot she felt. I could see she had been burned.”
