Dentist jumps into action when vehicle catches fire outside Salt Lake office

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City dentist jumped into action when he saw smoke and flames coming from a family's Suburban outside his office.

"An average first day back from a long weekend, and I'm finishing up a patient, just doing normal fillings," said Ric Sherman.

Working in a dental office, the only thing you expect to see out of place is in someone's mouth. But on Tuesday, it was what was happening outside of Sherman's office that grabbed his attention.

"I was just in the zone and I look up and that was a new thing," Sherman said.

But even after seeing the smoke coming from the windows, he didn't think much of it and instead thought, "they're probably vaping like crazy in there."

Moments later, he was outside and saw the smoke was now billowing out of the windows and fire was shooting out of the vents. So Sherman did what he's been doing for the last couple of years as a dentist and grabbed the right tool for the job: a fire extinguisher.

Fortunately, he said the couple whose Suburban it was had already gotten their baby and toddler out of the vehicle.

Sherman popped the hood, assuming the battery was the cause, but the fire was coming from inside.

"The flames had come up and melted through the dash, and then I could see where the source was coming from and I just got the extinguisher in there," he said.

Witnesses said the fire started after someone put coins inside the cigarette lighter.

"It's kind of crazy to think… you know, because you leave your kids in there," Sherman said. "Kids will be kids."

The Suburban will need much more than a filling after Tuesday's visit. But no one was hurt, and the inside of the vehicle was the extent of the damage, thanks to a dentist.

"I think it's every kid's dream to use a fire extinguisher, so all my dreams were met today," he said.

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