A semi-truck driver sleeping in his cab overnight was nearly killed when his 18-wheeler suddenly burst into flames.
According to witnesses, a passerby in another car saw the fire, banged on the truck door and helped to pull the man out.
"He's very lucky," said Duane Cook, a fellow truck driver who often parks at the St. Albans rest stop. "By the grace of God that car was there and saw what was going on. For a guy's truck to burn completely to the ground, and for him to escape in unscathed and go to a motel room instead of an emergency room is a very amazing thing."
The man, identified by witnesses as Bill Speed of California, was spending the night at the Jolley Short Stop gas station near Interstate 89 in St. Albans.
It is unclear why the truck caught fire, but crews from Georgia and St. Albans Town were able to put it out by mid-morning.
Read more: http://www.wptz.com/news/28137639/detail.html#ixzz1OUrbgtn (http://www.wptz.com/news/28137639/detail.html#ixzz1OUrbgtn)
Also much more detail in the Burlington Free Press at:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110605/NEWS02/110605011/ (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110605/NEWS02/110605011/)