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CENTERVILLE — A U-Haul truck unexpectedly caught fire on southbound I-15 near Centerville Thursday, leaving three people uncertain of their next steps in their trek to Arizona.
Lynn Prosek and her husband had been helping their friend move from Butte, Montana, to Scottsdale, Arizona, when the cabin of the rented truck her husband was driving started to fill with smoke.
“Once you could see that there was fire coming out of the top of the truck, we knew we were in trouble,” said Prosek, who had been following the U-Haul vehicle in a minivan.
Her husband was able to get out about 30 seconds before the cabin was fully engulfed.
“I mean, we were all sitting there watching and going, ‘We’re safe!’” Prosek said. “Nobody got hurt!”
Many of their friend’s belongings were not as lucky — either having been blackened by the fire or having received water damage when firefighters doused the roadside inferno.
“If the box doesn’t seem to be in too bad of shape, I’ll take it with me and we can dig into it later,” Prosek said.
South Davis Metro Fire Chief Jeff Bassett said it appeared the fire had started in the engine before spreading throughout the front of the truck.
Two weeks earlier, a similar scenario played out on I-15 in Draper, where a family moving from Washington to Utah managed to get out just in time as well.
Jeff Lockridge, manager of media and public relations for U-Haul International, said the company had assisted the families involved in both fires, and had purchased hotel rooms and meals, and was planning to help with some of the costs incurred by the Prosek family and their friend.
Prosek said she was simply grateful they were not injured.
“We’ll sort stuff out and figure out what we’re going to do next,” Prosek said. “Hey — if something’s going to go wrong, God kept us safe. (That’s) all I can ask.”
