Community Steps in During Crisis

Dec. 16—The bed of a man's truck suddenly caught fire while driving down South Stadium Drive, on Thursday. The fire eventually spread to the grass near the road where the truck was stopped. No one was injured but many bystanders chipped in to help put out the growing fire while they waited for the Fire Department.

At around 1:40 p.m., two men were stopped at the intersection of South Stadium Drive and East 18th Street when they noticed the bed of their truck was on fire. The driver of the vehicle had said that he assumed the cigarette butt that his passenger threw out the window must have flown into the bed, catching the contents in the back on fire. One Ada police officer responded to the scene as well as Mercy EMS and the Ada Fire Department, however, some unexpected responders showed up to help as well.

The incident happened right outside of Legacy Hills homes and the fire ended up spreading to grass near the fence. People who lived in Legacy Hills, as well as drivers who passed by the fire, jumped to action to keep it at bay.

Angela Owen was one of the few from Legacy Hills to help and she said she was just about to leave when she saw the fire start to spread. "So I ran and got some pitchers of water...when I realized it was getting out of control, I went and got my neighbor's water hose," Owen explained. Another person who helped was Steve Gordon, who saw the fire as he was driving by and stopped to help, even bringing a small fire extinguisher to use on the fire in the truck.

Assistant Chief Mitch Turpin with the Fire Department, said that while they appreciate citizens helping during a crisis, he warns the community to be cautious when responding to vehicle fires. Turpin said, "Vehicles we have now, they're run by natural gas which could be an explosion hazard and also have electric cars...but our firefighters are trained to identify those and handle those correctly when they are on fire."

Turpin continued to say that he just doesn't want citizens putting themselves at unnecessary risk if there isn't anyone to save. Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident and the road was cleared soon after the Fire Department arrived. Though this isn't advice for anyone with a messy truck, the last thing Turpin said was "That's one way to clean up the back of your pick-up."