Trucker puts others before himself when rig goes up in flames

A truck driver made sure to protect those around him during a truck fire in South Carolina on Thursday. 

The fire happened on January 28th at around 8:26 a.m. in Greer, South Carolina. 

According to Fox Carolina, trucker Wilbert Rhyne was traveling down Highway 101 when he noticed smoke coming from his rig, which was packed full of bales of cotton. 

“My first reaction was to get out of the road,” Rhyne said. 

He then pulled into the parking lot of a QuikTrip, away from other people and vehicles, and got to work doing what he could to prevent the fire from spreading. 

“I got my fire extinguisher out and tried to put it out to the best of my abilities but it started coming up. The flame was a little more than the fire extinguisher could handle,” he explained. 

“So I got out the way of it and just watched it go up in flames.”

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in less than twenty minutes, but the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. 

Rhyne says that, although the accident was unfortunate, the things that matter most were kept safe thanks to his gut-reaction. 

“Even though I had a lot of valuable things…that was left in there… they are not as valuable as my life. Those things can be replaced.” 

“The life you save could be your own,” he continued. “I’m just glad to be alive.”

Check out Fox Carolina’s interview with Rhyne by clicking here.