A driver is being praised for her heroic actions after she stopped a trash truck that was engulfed in flames from crashing into Orange County homes on Friday morning.
Home surveillance video taken around 7:50 a.m. showed the moment the truck malfunctioned on Mount Triumph Way, bursting into flames mere feet away from a family’s home in Yorba Linda.
The homeowners, Mark and Candice Holman, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff that their children were still in bed when it happened.
“The combustion, it kept popping, and I got worried as it got closer to the gas tank that, we didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Candice.
The truck crashed into two of the family’s brand new trucks and rolled down the hill, spreading its flames onto the hillside and endangering the life of the truck operator.
“It was fully engaged, the tree was engulfed,” detailed Mark. “This was a really bad situation.”
Authorities said it could have been much worse had it not been for a very brave truck operator who prevented the fire from spreading further.
The driver, who had jumped out of the truck at the onset of the fire, heroically jumped back in, attempting to pull the emergency break and stop the truck from barreling down the street.
According to officials, the driver is okay and didn’t sustain any injuries at all.
“This is about as good of an outcome as we could hope for, considering that this vehicle could have gone down the hill, possibly crashed into a home,” said Sean Doran, captain for Orange County Fire Authority. “The driver could have been run over by the very vehicle she was driving. All things considered, this was a good outcome for what could have been a horrific scene.”
The Holmans said that many of their Christmas presents, tucked away in the trunk of their cars, were lost in the blaze, days away from the holiday.
“These things are replaceable,” said Candice. “My boys are not – and, of course, the truck driver risked her life to try to save houses, and she still went back in to try to put a break on, which I commend her for.”
OCFA said there will be a full investigation into the cause of the fire.
A driver is being praised for her heroic actions after she stopped a trash truck that was engulfed in flames from crashing into Orange County homes on Friday morning. Home surveillance video taken around 7:50 a.m. showed the moment the truck malfunctioned on Mount Triumph Way, bursting into flames mere feet away from a family’s […]
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