A Utah trooper is being praised for helping a trucker whose big rig caught fire, causing violent tire explosions, earlier this month.
The incident took place on northbound I-15 in Weber County on December 8th, according to WWLP.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jeremy McKenzie says that he was following a semi truck on the interstate when he started to notice the smell of smoke. McKenzie soon realized that there was something very wrong with the truck traveling in front of him.
“There were flames coming out of the wheel hubs! I initiated my lights and siren to get him to pull over,” he said.
Together, the trooper and the trucker tried to put out the fire, but McKenzie soon realized that the fire was spreading out of control. He went back to his cruiser to call for help while the truck driver continued to try to fight the fire with his own fire extinguisher.
In alarming dash cam footage, you can see the truck driver as he actually goes under the trailer to try to fight the fire. That’s when one of the tires explodes violently.
“It was like a cannon went off,” said McKenzie.
Somehow, the trucker is able to move away from the truck after the tire explosion. He collapsed on the ground — and that’s when a second tire exploded. It’s then that McKenzie says that he dragged the trucker away from the truck in case any more tires exploded.
“I honestly was not thinking about the tires blowing up. I was not,” McKenzie stated.
You can take a look at the dash cam video in the clip below.