Watch Troopers Pull Man From Burning Truck Seconds Before It Explodes

This could be straight out of a movie. A truck driver was rescued with only seconds to spare after his rig caught on fire.

According to the original post description, two New Jersey State Troopers pulled a man out of a burning tractor-trailer on Interstate 287 in Bridgewater Township, Somerset County just seconds before it exploded Monday, March 2, at approximately 3:35 pm.

Trooper Robert Tarleton was speaking with a driver on a motor vehicle stop northbound on I-287 at milepost 20 when a nearby tractor-trailer ran off the right side of the road in the express lanes, striking the guardrail and bridge abutment before becoming engulfed in flames. When Trooper Tarleton heard the impact and observed the crash, he immediately returned the driver’s credentials and ran back to his car to request for fire and emergency medical services personnel to respond to the crash.

As he drove to the scene, Trooper Tarleton calmly provided an update to dispatch before exiting his vehicle and sprinting to the burning tractor-trailer. As he approached the truck, State Police Lieutenant Edward Ryer, who was on his way home from work when he witnessed the crash, was out of his vehicle attempting to rescue the driver from the cab.

Trooper Tarleton and Lieutenant Ryer worked together to pull the driver from the burning cab, dragging him to safety, seconds before it exploded. The driver sustained minor injuries in the crash and was transported to Morristown Medical Center for evaluation. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.