Good Samaritan jumps to help driver after semi crashes, catches fire on Pennsylvania Turnpike

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — 11 News first showed you the dramatic video last week of a man running down the Pennsylvania Turnpike to help a driver stuck in a semi-truck, which had caught fire.

Channel 11′s Melanie Gillespie spoke to him Friday about that brave rescue and what it took to pull the driver out.

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David Duffey, a college senior, was driving back from one of his monthly trainings for the U.S. National Guard.

He was approaching mile marker 69 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when the tractor trailer in front of him crashed just underneath this bridge — and then instincts and his training kicked in.

“I could not leave him. I knew I had to do everything possible to get this man out of the truck,” Duffey said.

When Duffey was driving back to Slippery Rock University Sunday, he didn’t know he’d find himself running toward a fiery crash and a harrowing rescue in the middle of the turnpike.

“I’m running up, and one of the first things I see is fire and fuel in different spots around the truck. I’m trying to find the driver because all I see is the cab — it was gone,” Duffey said.

Then Duffey could hear the driver screaming for help as flames started to grow.

“I saw this, and I knew that truck was going to blow any second. And I couldn’t leave the guy there,” he recalled.

What was unfolding in front of Duffey was all caught on camera.

“The window was shattered, and I remember I looked at him and saw the fire and fuel, and I said, ‘We need to get you out of here,’” Duffey said.

The passenger door wouldn’t budge, so he dove in through the window and dragged the driver out.

“There was an older gentleman. He started to help me drag him, and then a few seconds later the driver’s side where he was sitting, that half exploded into flames,” Duffey said.

Just as the driver was pulled from the mangled, inverted cab, a ball of fire erupted from the truck.

“We were moments away from that thing exploding. We were both in the truck at one point. Looking back and watching the video, it’s a lot closer of a call than I realized in the moment,” Duffey said.

We found turnpike crews back out at the accident scene again Friday, assessing some of the damage left behind.

A week later Duffey is still pretty shaken up, and has a few battle scars, but is thankful everyone made it out alive.

“My whole concern was getting that driver out safely. That was the only thing going through my mind. It was terrifying and scary. But I was more scared for the driver than I was for myself.”

Duffey stayed with that driver the whole time. He still doesn’t know much about the driver other than where he works and where he lives, but he said he’s hoping to get that chance to talk to him to make sure he’s OK.

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