Quick-Thinking Driver Pulls Burning Rig Away From Tanker

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Pollard Trucking driver David W. Shrader, 58, was driving his 2005 International along eastbound I-70 in Indiana, just east of mile marker 48, when he smelled something burning.

Shrader pulled his truck off the road.  That’s when he noticed the back of his tractor was on fire.

The quick-thinking driver got out of his truck, unhooked it from the tanker and got back into his burning rig and pulled it 150 feet away from the 8,000 pounds of ethanol he had just loaded.

According to the Greencastle Banner, the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Chief Kerry Shepard called the driver brave and praised his level-headed, quick thinking act.

“It was quick thinking by the driver or it would have been a huge mess,” Shepherd said.”The quick-thinking truck driver saved us all a lot of headaches.”

Investigators believe the fire started in the rear-wheel area and was the result of a flat tire or a brake problem.