INDEX – A phone call Friday solved the mystery surrounding the identity of a trucker who likely saved a Monroe man from burning to death.
The trucker’s name, however, will remain confidential, the Washington State Patrol said.
“He said he didn’t want any recognition. He didn’t think what he did was anything special,” trooper Tim Crane said Friday.
Crane thanked the man anyway for helping save a life Thursday when a car and pickup collided and the pickup caught fire.
“What he did was heroic. We need more people who will stop and help someone in trouble,” Crane said.
The accident occurred when a Monroe man’s pickup truck crossed the centerline and plowed into a car driven by a 16-year-old Skykomish girl on U.S. 2 Thursday morning, the State Patrol said.
The vehicles spun off the road and into a ditch. Emergency workers found the drivers lying outside their vehicles.
The Monroe man, 40, suffered a broken foot and lacerated liver and spleen. The girl suffered a broken ankle and a minor concussion.
Troopers were unsure Thursday how the drivers got out of their vehicles. Investigators also didn’t know the identity of the trucker who had extinguished the fire.
A couple of phone calls answered those questions.
A firefighter who arrived at the crash scene called Crane on Friday morning. He said the trucker was there when emergency crews and a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy arrived.
“They just didn’t get his name,” Crane said.
The mystery trucker also called in Friday and left a message for investigators. He told troopers that he rolled up to the accident and saw the girl climbing out of her car.
The trucker then saw the pickup burst into flames and heard someone yelling for help. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and was dousing the flames when another trucker pulled up and joined him.
While the men were putting out the fire, the driver crawled out the rear window of the pickup, Crane said.
The Monroe man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle as a precautionary measure. The girl was taken to Valley General Hospital in Monroe.
The trucker “told me he did what everyone else would do,” Crane said. “I’m happy we were able to thank him.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
