Hero Trucker Helps Utility Worker Escape from Fire

When a hero is needed, there’s no time to lose! Fortunately, truck driver Efrain Zepeda didn’t hesitate to answer a call for help when a utility worker was trapped in a raised bucket truck that had caught fire below.

As the danger of the truck exploding grew, a police officer spotted Zepeda’s tractor trailer stopped at a nearby intersection and ran to ask for his help.

Zepeda sprang into action, moving his trailer beneath the Santa Rosa, California, utility worker to provide the man with a means of escape. Amidst plumes of black smoke and flames, the worker was able to jump down onto the truck and evade serious injury or death.

Zepeda works for Estes Express Lines and was praised by the company’s Vice President of Process Improvement Webb Estes. “It is nothing short of a miracle that our driver, Efrain, was there just as this individual needed rescue from such a dire situation,” said Estes. “Enough can’t be said about his bravery and immediate actions that allowed the worker to escape.”

The Sonoma County professional firefighter’s union, which posted the video on Facebook, summed it up: “Our citizens never cease to amaze us!”