Lucky Escape for Young Trio as Flames Engulf Their Pickup on Michigan Interstate

Arizona man Ryan Speer was shocked to witness a pickup truck engulfed in flames and rolling to a stop along an interstate in St Clair Shores, north of Detroit, on August 1. He recorded this dramatic video of the scene; luckily, no one was hurt.

Andrey Bruck was the driver of the vehicle. He told WXYZ Detroit he was driving on the I-94 with his girlfriend Gillian Bradley and their friend Kaitlen Frederick when he smelled smoke. He pulled over and all three got out.

“I go to get out, and there’s just flames flying under me and Kaitlen’s legs,” Bradley told WXYZ.

Once the three were safely out, the police were called. “We were talking to the police officer and all of a sudden the truck rolls away,” Frederick said.

“It was kind of like: Wow, there it goes,” said Bruck. Speer’s video shows the truck as it rolled to a burning stop against the highway’s median wall.

The fire was attributed to a problem with the truck’s exhaust system, local media reported. The failure was an unwelcome birthday surprise for Bruck, who turned 20 the day after the dramatic incident. "I want to live to be a little bit older at least,” he told WXYZ.

Speer told Storyful he was on an overpass above the interstate when he saw the flaming vehicle. “The truck hit the wall on the median and the flames intensified and covered the entire truck as the gas line seemed to have caught fire,” Speer said. Credit: Ryan Speer via Storyful