Goodyear
Names Virginia Trucker Highway Hero
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| Highway
Hero, Derrick Harris, saves man on fire on side of road. | The
21st annual Goodyear North America Highway Hero is a Virginia truck driver who
saved the life of an individual deliberately set on fire, then helped police locate
and arrest the person charged with the hideous crime. Derrick Harris, a driver
for Schneider National Carriers, accepted the award and a $10,000 U.S. Savings
Bond during the Mid-America Trucking Show.
On Nov. 12, 2003, Harris, a professional truck driver from Hopewell, VA, had just
left the Richmond area with a load that was headed to Knoxville, TN, when he noticed
a fire near the side of the road. Realizing it was actually a person on fire,
he drove to the person, stopped and secured his truck, then grabbed a blanket
and cooler of water. He extinguished the fire by wrapping the person in the blanket,
then soaked it with water for more comfort for the
burn victim.
Once the individual was down and comfortable, Harris ran back to his truck, grabbed
his fire extinguisher and put out a fire that had started in some surrounding
trees. While extinguishing the fire, he noticed a container that smelled like
kerosene. Harris stayed with the victim, trying to keep him conscious and comfortable
while he called for help on his cell phone and awaited emergency response.
Based on comments from the burn victim and other observations in the area, Harris
suggested to the responding local police that it appeared someone had deliberately
set the man on fire. With this information, police began searching the woods,
and found a suspect within three hours. The suspect admitted the next day to setting
the other man on fire. Though the victim suffered burns over 60 percent of his
body, Harris' quick actions helped save
his life, and he was integral in finding
the responsible party. "It's
a case of being in the right place at the right time," Harris said. "When
I first saw the flames, I thought it was a brush fire. Then I noticed the fire
was moving, and I realized it was a person. It seemed like something from TV or
the movies, like it was a stunt man on fire." "Seeing
someone suffer like that was terrible... something you wouldn't wish upon anyone.
For me, stopping to help was simply a reaction. I really didn't think about what
I was doing until it was all over. I just did what I had to do."
Harris, a driver with Schneider since October 2002, was also recognized by his
employer with Schneider's Presidential Citation Award. (CONTINUE...)
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