Leaping into a burning vehicle is normally something we allow firefighters to do. Occasionally, however, extraordinary circumstances appear when we least expect it and an untrained individual has to act. For one man, a car engulfed in flames was his moment to save a life.
Caden Pabst was driving near Salt Lake City when his moment to act came.
He was heading towards the I-215 Belt Route when he noticed something strange. The car that was driving next to him had started smoking. When he looked closer, he saw literal flames shooting out from underneath!
“I was yelling, ‘Move over, right now! Move over!’ And when he gave me the thumbs up, I was like ‘No, move over, move over, now!'” said Pabst.
Pulling over, he went to help the man.
“I hurried and pulled over, put myself in park, and then just ran over to him,” said Pabst.
Together, they grabbed as much as they could from the burning car and started moving it away. As they finally finished getting their essentials, the car exploded!
The driver had known that something was wrong with his car, he just didn’t know how bad it was.
Since the fire was coming from under the car, the driver had no idea the extent of the damage. He was on his way to get it fixed at the next exit when it all went down! Thankfully, Pabst noticed. If he hadn’t, it could have blown up while he was driving.
“One hundred percent, his engine would have blown up,” said Pabst. “He had no idea. He just gave me a thumbs up. He was just living life.”
When the police arrived, the man couldn’t stop telling them how thankful he was for Pabst.
Sgt. Cameron Roden, a Highway Patrolman, talked to the driver.
“He did want to give full credit to the driver who got his attention, saying thank you, because who knows what could have happened,” said Roden. “It could have been really dangerous. It could have spiraled out of control, quick.”
Pabst knew that the whole situation had a bit of luck to it. Still, it had a lot to do with him taking the time to stop a stranger and help them!
Since the event, people have been calling Pabst a “good samaritan”.
A Good Samaritan jumps into action to help a stranger.. the driver of this car had no idea his car was on fire.. @KSL5TV at 6 pic.twitter.com/D1HmNRIGV4
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) November 9, 2021
“Once the car was completely in flames, I was just, like, really grateful that I really, honestly stopped, because a lot of people didn’t,” said Pabst. “I guess I’m just not the kind of person that can see someone in a lot of trouble and not do something about it.”
From what it looks like, good samaritan is totally appropriate! It takes a special kind of person to take so much time and risk in order to help a total stranger. After seeing the photos, it’s clear that this wasn’t some small deed! One small stop turned into a saved life – it’s not every day you can claim you saved someone!
Check out the video below!
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