Big Rig Driver, CHP Officer Rescue Worker Trapped By Burning Truck
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A quick-thinking big rig driver and a California Highway Patrol officer were being credited with saving an utility worker who was trapped in an elevated bucket when his truck burst into flames below.
The Santa Rosa office of the Highway Patrol said the incident took place at around 9 a.m. Thursday morning on Airport Blvd near Aviation Blvd.
CHP Sergeant Bill Harm was driving nearby and responded to the scene when he saw the smoke. Upon arrival, he found an utility worker elevated in the air in the bucket of a boom truck. The vehicle was ablaze and the worker could not lower the bucket to escape the flames.
Harm flagged down a passing big rig and directed the driver to pull the trailer next to the burning truck and underneath the bucket.
The trapped worker was then able to jump from the bucket onto the roof of the trailer and the big rig drove to safety.
The worker was not injured.