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TAYLORSVILLE — Two teenagers narrowly escaped injury when their truck caught on fire Saturday morning.
The two Taylorsville High ROTC students, 18-year-old Katelyn Price and 16-year-old Daryllin Zitting, were driving home from Lone Rock near Tooele in Price's Dodge Dakota when the truck burst into flames.
Price said she noticed the car acting sluggish and exited Interstate-80. A "good Samaritan" following them began honking his horn and yelled that their car was on fire.
"I told Daryllin to get out of the car and she was freaking out because she couldn't open the door," Price said. "So I shoved her out and then I ditched my car myself."
Price said there was some smoke in the cab of the truck but she didn't see any fire until they were jumping from the vehicle. The truck came to a stop on the side of the road and Price had just barely retrieved her cell phone when the vehicle burst into flames.
She's willing to save anybody's life. She's a go-getter.
–- Daryllin Zitting
"If he hadn't alerted us, the car would have been on fire and we would have been jumping out in flames," she said.
Zitting said the fire came on fast and she credits Price with saving her from being injured or killed. She said she had been struggling to get her door open but it wasn't until Price pushed her that it finally gave way.
"She's willing to save anybody's life," Zitting said. "She's a go-getter."
Zitting's mother, Tracey May, agreed, calling Price a hero.
"She saved our daughter's life and her own life as well," she said.
Price believes that a leaky transmission caused the vehicle to overheat. She said there was a line of fluid on the ground leading to the truck.
Email:bwood@desnews.com
