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ECHO CANYON — Investigators credit passers-by for saving a man who was critically injured when two semitrucks collided and caught fire on I-80 near the Wyoming border Wednesday morning.
A semitruck carrying 500 car batteries and eight 55-gallon drums of acid magic, which is a cleaning chemical, lost power to the brakes on its trailer, according to Utah Highway Patrol. This caused the brakes to lock up, preventing the driver from getting the truck completely off the road.
Another semitruck ran into the back the first truck, and both ignited.
Other truck drivers who witnessed the crash stopped to help the driver trapped in the wreckage.
"We got him on a sleeping bag and pulled him away, because the fuel tanks were on fire," truck driver Bryan Monroe said. "We just drug him as far as we could before stopping."
The injured driver was flown to a Salt Lake City hospital in critical condition, said Tyler Rowser of the North Summit Fire Department.
"We had to let as much of it burn off as we could before we started suppression," Rowser said of the acid on board the semitruck.
The collision initially closed all lanes of the freeway, but emergency crews managed to get eastbound lanes reopened later in the morning. Westbound lanes remained closed most of the day but were also reopened just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Contributing: Linda Williams
