← Cold Case Files
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- [00:02]
Fred (Truck Driver)
Evening. Buyer's remorse. Buy a new car. I'll be moving in. Let's get started.
- [00:09]
Carvana Advertiser
Sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana.
- [00:12]
Pluto TV Announcer
You what?
- [00:13]
Carvana Advertiser
Yeah. Great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it.
- [00:16]
Fred (Truck Driver)
So there's no.
- [00:17]
Carvana Advertiser
No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyers rejoice.
- [00:21]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it.
- [00:26]
Carvana Advertiser
Buyers rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions May apply.
- [00:29]
Maria (Survivor)
See our 7 day return policy@carvana.com Truckers
- [00:32]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
aren't just moving goods. They're making sure bakers get their chocolate chips and hotels get their tiny soaps. But truckers can't do this if they're not on the road. That's why Progressive has over 360 heavy truck employees to help truckers stay on time and on track. Quote Truck Insurance today in as little as eight minutes@progressive commercial.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates.
- [00:56]
Narrator
This episode contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
- [01:03]
Christy (Survivor)
I started swinging, I started kicking. But at that point, they'd already stabbed me 28 times.
- [01:09]
Fred (Truck Driver)
Real people, I'm already in it. What can I do? Do I stop? If I stop, I burn. I'll burn up alive.
- [01:16]
Juan Naula (GoFundMe User)
There.
- [01:17]
Narrator
Who faced death.
- [01:19]
Maria (Survivor)
He came to my house and he was pounding on my bedroom window. He was saying things like, you better. I'm going to, you know, I'm going to kill you. Or I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
- [01:28]
Narrator
And live to tell how.
- [01:30]
Christy (Survivor)
They wanted me to know who was sending me to hell. And they gave me their names and they gave me, told me where they was going, exactly where they was going because they thought I was dead.
- [01:43]
Narrator
This is. I survived. It's December 1991 and in Fort Smith, Arkansas, 21 year old Christy and her friends are going to a bar to watch Monday Night Football.
- [02:03]
Christy (Survivor)
Since I hadn't been drinking, I kind of got volunteered into driving everyone. And so we went to the closest sports pub we could get to.
- [02:15]
Narrator
In the bar, three men introduce themselves to Christy.
- [02:19]
Christy (Survivor)
They tried to get us to play pool with them. They wanted to play partners. They wanted to come sit. They even sent Bear over at one point. They kept trying to talk to us and I got a bad vibe from them. I didn't like it.
- [02:36]
Narrator
Christy did not know that all three men were criminals. Travis McVeigh was out on bond after allegedly killing his father. Donald Peterson was an escaped convict. And Jimmy Jo Winters was on probation.
- [02:52]
Christy (Survivor)
There was something Wrong. There was something. They was wanting to be too nice. They was wanting to be too talkative. And later on, that little bar was closing and a friend of mine asked me if I'd give them a ride home. And I was like, nah. I had a single cab truck, and I said, no, I don't know him. I didn't have a good feeling about it at all. Because as soon as I slipped out that door, as soon as I got to that outside, I ran. I ran to my truck. I could hear them running behind me. I had the key in the lock, and I don't know which one hit me first because I was facing the truck, but one of them hit me. The keys was jerked out of my hand. I remember fighting for those keys like that was my last hope. I mean, I remember my fingers was tore up from my trying to hold onto my key ring. Jimmie Dale Winters went around to the driver's side and unlocked the door and then unlocked the passenger door and pulled me in by my hair. And the next thing I knew, I was on Donald Peterson's lap and he was raping me. Donald Peterson had me by the passenger side door and he had my head covered with a coat. And he raped me right there. And when I was fighting him, Travis was in the middle. And whenever I was fighting Titan, get the door open, I was getting hit. I knew that if I wanted to be there for my son his next birthday, I had to. I had to fight, and I had to fight hard.
- [04:49]
Narrator
Christy was a single mom. Her son was three years old.
- [04:54]
Christy (Survivor)
I was arguing with him. I was still trying to find some rational part in them before it went too far. When that didn't work, then I'd go to fighting. And when that didn't work, I'd go to screaming. That's when Donald Peterson put me under his coat. He rocked me and kept telling me, I won't let him hurt you no more. I won't let him hurt you anymore. He was the one that had just raped me. After he raped me, I kept telling him that I needed to go to the bathroom. And they was like. They argued with each other. You know, we can't let her, you know, she's just going to take off this and that. And one of them would say, well, do you want her to pee in the truck? And this and that. And they stopped the vehicle. I paid real close attention to where the vehicle was moving and where. So I pretty much knew where we was at. When the vehicle stopped, it was Charles Page Boulevard and Fort Smith. And it was a block away from where my dad was working right then. And I could see the lights from where he was working, and I could. I knew he was in there. And I jumped out of the truck when they stopped, and I thought they was gonna let me go, but as soon as I seen that building, when they pulled the coat off my head, I thought I could outrun him because I was in real good shape. I ran all the time, lifted weights. And as soon as I took off, I got knocked in that ditch. And they beat the fart out of me. I mean, they hit me. I got hit, kneed, kicked in the stomach. They broke two of my ribs. They pulled me back in the vehicle and beat on me a little bit. And they started the truck. And at this point, they're kind of freaking out. They're actually having this conversation with me sitting right there. You know, she's already seen our faces. She knows what we look like. We have to kill her. They drove around with me for hours. They would stop and beat on me, rape me. We'd get back in the truck. I don't know how many times that happened.
- [07:27]
Narrator
They drove Christy to an isolated dirt road.
- [07:30]
Christy (Survivor)
Well, then they go rummaging through the vehicle, trying to find what they could use to kill me.
- [07:38]
Narrator
The men found bullets in the glove box.
- [07:42]
Christy (Survivor)
I used them for target practice, but I didn't keep the gun in the truck. And it was. I had actually forgot the bullets was in the glove box. And when they first started screaming at me, well, where's the gun? Where's the gun? I could. I didn't know, you know, I kept saying, what are you talking about? What are you. Because they was all panicking. They hit me. They elbowed me. They throwed me on the ground. They would pick me back up and slam me against the truck and just kept screaming, where's the gun? Where's the gun? I knew that they would either have to kill me or I'd have to make them believe that I was dead. I remember them looking for a weapon for them to stab. They had to kill me. And they come across a Phillips screwdriver. I remember them holding me on both sides of my arms. And I can remember the one that swore that he wasn't gonna let them hurt me anymore, stabbing me. The first few times. I was like, God, is this really happening? You know, I would watch my chest go in, and then I would watch it come out, and then I would see blood hit the windshield. And I was watching this, but it was almost, like in slow motion. Like, I was just a part of me thought I was dreaming, you know, and I'm gonna wake up in a minute and it'll be okay. And then another part of me thought, you know, you better fight. You better fight. I started fighting. I started swinging. I started kicking. But it got him to quit stabbing me.
- [09:38]
Narrator
Christy had been stabbed 28 times in the chest, throat, and face.
- [09:44]
Christy (Survivor)
Could barely see out of one of my eyes. And they was. They was knocking the fire out of me. I mean, they was hitting me. They was. They was knocking me around pretty bad because I was fighting with them, you know, and they knew that they was going to kill me. One of them opened the tailgate, and I remember being slammed down on it. I mean, just like you would a sack of potatoes, just by my legs. I slammed down and my back hit right where the tailgate drops down on the truck. And I remember, man, I felt pain just shoot through my back. When they done that, it broke my lower back, and I lost feeling. And I still don't have any feeling in this side from the waist down. And they flipped me over and they raped me from the front, from the back, you name it. But I went limp. And whether, you know, I know part of it was because of the paralysis, but I think I knew that at that point, there was no fight. You know, it was a fight I couldn't win. I had to. I had to make them think that I was dead. At this point, they wanted me to know who was sending me to hell. And that was their exact words. They, you know, you effing bit. You know, we want you to know who's sending you to hell. And they gave me their names and they gave me. Told me where they was going, exactly where they was going, because they thought I was dead. After they got through with me on the tailgate, one picked me up by my ankles and one by my arms, and they threw me down into a deep ravine. And I can remember hitting rocks and trees and branches and everything, but mostly I remember the cold leaves. I remember hearing the vehicle pull off. And I don't remember anything till the next morning when I woke up. I knew something wasn't right because I. I wasn't in my bed. I was freezing to death. I didn't have no clothes on. And it started coming back to me. I had lost so much blood that if it had been any warmer, I would have bled to death. If it had been any colder, I would have froze to death. Basically, I drug myself up out of the ravine and I crawled or half Crawled down the dirt road trying to get to someone or anyone. I remember I didn't have any strength in this hand at all. And that's my dominant hand. I'm right handed. And so I was pulling with this hand, but I was kicking the ground with this leg because this leg wasn't working.
- [13:05]
Narrator
Christy's face was so badly beaten that she could not see.
- [13:09]
Christy (Survivor)
I heard a car, a vehicle far off, far off, away from me at one point. And I crawled towards that and that's when I heard the little boys, the
- [13:27]
Narrator
boys aged nine and 11 were on their way to school.
- [13:31]
Christy (Survivor)
I remember hearing one voice, that's a monster. And I was trying to tell them, I'm not a monster, I need help. And I had had so many holes in my windpipe and my, you know, that I couldn't, When I tried to speak, it was like, you know, kind of a whisper, but like a gargled whisper because I was choking on my blood. And the oldest one's dad just happened to be an Arkansas highway patrol and he made the little one take his coat off and put under me and they put his coat over me and he ran back and got his dad. His dad come and I fought him. He was a man. And at that point that was the last thing I wanted around me, you know, I mean, I was, I didn't know if I was safe, you know, I'm hearing voices and I'm still thinking, you know, I'm not out of the woods yet.
- [14:35]
Narrator
An ambulance and police officers raced to the scene.
- [14:39]
Christy (Survivor)
I could hear the ambulance coming and I, one of the uniformed officers, I reached up, I was trying to hand him something and I have no knowledge of how I got these objects in my hand, but I had the vehicle registration and I had one of them's driver's license.
- [15:04]
Narrator
One of Christie's assailants was caught in Arizona a week after the attack. The other two were captured in California, still driving Christie's blood stained truck.
- [15:16]
Christy (Survivor)
They still had the blood all over the windows in the truck. They never washed them. The seats were stained in blood, the floorboards. They had actually picked up a hitchhiker in Texas that had called in on a tip line that they had picked him up and they had told him, you know, yeah, we killed a girl and a guy up there in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And they was bragging about it. They just thought, and they had actually killed a guy the night after they was done with me. The police thought that he had actually got his head blowed off with a shotgun, but they had beat it off with a bumper Jack. To say I was the lucky one is, you know, and even though it don't seem like it, you know, I have my life and I have my children, and I have God.
- [16:16]
Narrator
Christy requested the prosecution not seek the death penalty.
- [16:21]
Christy (Survivor)
I didn't want him dead. I don't believe that lethal injection is right because they didn't ask their victims if they could go to sleep before they killed them.
- [16:35]
Narrator
Adam Travis McVeigh, age 16, Donald Peterson, age 18, and Jimmy Jo Winters, aged 33, were all sentenced to life in prison.
- [16:47]
Christy (Survivor)
God gave me the strength to pull through it. My son gave me the love to get through it.
- [16:54]
Narrator
Christy's injuries were so severe that it was a month before her son was allowed to see.
- [17:01]
Christy (Survivor)
He come in there with his little Ninja Turtle, and he was afraid to sit on the bed. And I said, it's okay, you know, get up here and sit with Mama. He goes, I don't want to hurt you. I said, it's okay. And, I mean, he looked at me and his eyes watered up, and he said, mom, if me and the Ninja Turtles would have been there, they wouldn't have done that to you. And I think that's one of the most loving things anybody could have ever said.
- [17:32]
Narrator
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- [19:03]
Progressive Insurance Announcer 2
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- [19:31]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
law why does progressive work hard for truckers? Because truckers unite the world. They unite kids with their first drum sets and parents with earplugs. But truckers can't do this if they're not on the road. That's why Progressive has over 360 heavy truck employees to help truckers stay on time and on track. Quote Truck Insurance today in as little as eight minutes@progressivecommercial.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates.
- [20:02]
Narrator
It's September 2005 in Independence, Missouri. Maria has ended her relationship with Michael.
- [20:10]
Maria (Survivor)
He was very charming. He was very much, he would send flowers and gifts and he was just someone that he took, you know, I guess he caught my eye or swept me off my feet or however you want to say that. But he was like that in the beginning. It was not long, about three months before I noticed that this was all just, it was starting to get, you know, to where he was wanting other things and very controlling, trying to keep me away from, you know, my family. It would just have to be him and him alone that I needed to see. We probably dated for maybe four or five months and then after that, the rest of the time we were together was trying to get rid of him.
- [20:56]
Narrator
Actually, for the next six months, Maria was stalked by Michael.
- [21:02]
Maria (Survivor)
So he just kept coming around. He would drive by my house, he would call me and text me in my work emails. I mean there were tons of emails. He didn't get the message that I wanted him to leave me alone.
- [21:16]
Narrator
Maria and her 16 year old daughter were asleep one night when Michael came to the house.
- [21:22]
Maria (Survivor)
He was pounding on my bedroom window and I mean, it was the scariest, one of the scariest things he'd ever did. His face was right there when I woke up, you know and of course, my daughter was in the house as well. And he just kept on pounding and yelling. And I was like, go away. I can't let you. I'm not gonna let you in. Well, he was saying things like, you better. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna kill you, or I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that.
- [21:45]
Narrator
Maria calmed Michael down, and he left. The next day. Maria went to the police.
- [21:51]
Maria (Survivor)
They said to me, we can't do anything unless he physically hurts you. It was like, okay, he hasn't physically hurt me yet, but emotionally, he's terrorizing me.
- [22:03]
Narrator
One evening while Maria was at a friend's house, she began receiving threats from her ex boyfriend.
- [22:09]
Maria (Survivor)
He was texting me the whole time I was there, and I was showing her so that, you know, of course someone else could see. And she just couldn't believe it. I mean, the things he was saying is like, crazy. One minute it would be, I love you. The next minute it would be, I'm gonna kill you. I know you're with your boyfriend and blah, blah, blah. Just crazy stuff. I left her house and I went home. And it was probably about 11:30, and my daughter's curfew is like 12 or 12:30. I heard a large knock at the front door. So I thought it was my daughter who I thought maybe she had. I thought Megan had forgotten her key. And as I came out in the hallway, the noise went to the back door, and I heard the back door. Michael broke the back door down, and then before he came through the other door, I was getting ready to run across the street, and then he broke the other door down. So as I ran out the front door, ran across the street, those people, I just opened their door basically and busted my way in there.
- [23:10]
Narrator
Running past her startled neighbors, Maria searched for somewhere to hide.
- [23:15]
Maria (Survivor)
My goal was to get away, and hopefully the neighbors would shut the door and he didn't get in. I hid in their hallway, thinking that I could get away from him, I guess.
- [23:27]
Narrator
Maria's ex boyfriend barged into the neighbor's house. Maria did not realize she had been shot in the back running from her house.
- [23:36]
Maria (Survivor)
I did not know he had a weapon until I saw him holding it to my neighbor's head. He did say he was going to shoot my neighbor, so I guess after that, then I went, just take me and leave them alone.
- [23:51]
Fred (Truck Driver)
When.
- [23:52]
Maria (Survivor)
When we got back across the street, then he told me to get into my car and I told him no. I said that my daughter was going to come home and That I couldn't get into the car. He was just in a dead stare. And he kept pointing the gun at my head and telling me to get into the car. And I said, michael, I said, what is wrong with you? And like, he would not. He just wouldn't tell me anything. He wouldn't say anything to me except to get into the car. He's going to shoot me. So I started to walk towards my house to see if I could get in, you know, maybe get away from him. And then he shot me in the leg. I'd never been shot before, you know, so I didn't know what it felt like. So I was thinking, this is all a dream. This is just like, you know, a movie or something. So I got into my car and I kind of knelt down to feel my leg and it was bleeding. And I thought, well, it's not a dream. So then my mind was going to, what should I do next? And I'm assuming he probably thought that I'd probably just sit there and cry, because most people probably would have been. But I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking, if I'm not going, to hell with him. We backed out of the driveway and I threw the car in park then. And then as we went up the hill, I threw it in park again. And then he pointed the gun at me and said, if you do that again, I'm going to shoot you in the head. I thought to myself, well, I'm going to die anyway, but I'm not going to die without a fight. He sped up and went really fast because we were almost to 40 highway and he was probably going at a rate of maybe 70 or 80 miles an hour. I knew in my mind it started thinking, you know, we're getting close to 40 highway. You know, where is he taking me? What's he gonna do? How's he gonna do it? All those things we're thinking. So I was like, the only, my only choice was to open the door and jump.
- [25:35]
Narrator
Maria's ex boyfriend was still aiming the gun at her head.
- [25:40]
Maria (Survivor)
I remember him stepping on the gas and thinking to myself, this is your last chance. Basically, I just opened the door and at some point he hit me because I had a black eye when I woke up and I don't remember being hit, but at some point he did. And I opened the door and I just basically rolled out. When I jumped, it felt like, if I'm going to die this way, I would much rather die this way than to have go, you know, go with him. I didn't I wasn't going to die with him. I had been drugged down the road a few. About probably maybe a half a block. But when I was able to get up on my feet, it was like tunnel vision because Michael had hit me in the eye with the gun. I saw this fence of this house, and I just ran for the fence. And it seemed like it was so far away. And I just remember running as fast as I could run. And when I got to the fence, I just actually not jumped, but fell over that fence. I busted their door open with my arm and the whole glass door, I could have just opened it. But at that time, you're not really thinking, you know, you're thinking, I need to get in. And after I got inside of the lady's porch, I knocked on the door and asked her to let me in. I was screaming, and she said to me, I can't let you in because I don't know you. I heard the car crash, and of course it was close. So I then assumed that Michael would get out of that car and come and get me or come and get my daughter Megan. So either way, I wanted to get to the police right away. I kept yelling to the police that he's coming, he's right there. So I don't know how he got away because they had the lights and the helicopters and everything out there looking for him, and somehow he got away. Then they took me to the hospital, and that's when we found out that I was shot twice because they. I didn't know. And as I went through the hallways, I mean, I was. I don't even know how to describe how scared I was. It was like being in this. I was just. We went by the door and I was so scared. I told them, don't take me by the door, because I thought, you know, he was going to shoot me or he'd be there by the door. So they did emergency surgery and had me under an assumed name in the hospital locked down the whole time. And they actually didn't find Michael for three, four, five days.
- [28:14]
Narrator
Police found Maria's ex boyfriend barricaded inside a hotel room.
- [28:19]
Maria (Survivor)
They had talked to him for probably 11 hours, I think, or something like that. And finally he said he was going to come out is what they said. And before he came out, he shot himself. So that's how it ended. I survived because I kept my emotions under control. And I thought a lot about what was important to me, why I wanted to live. And I guess those are the main things. But I think that all women need to be so aware that if it's too good to be true, it usually is because he was just too good to be true. It was like someone who gave you. He just showered me with this and that and then at the end he showered me with nothing but, you know, terror. And I'm still here. So I feel like I am a survivor. And I did, you know, what I thought was best to do in that situation?
- [29:26]
Pluto TV Announcer
Hello and welcome to Pluto Foe. If you knew the name of the movie you'd like to see, just stream it for free on Pluto tv where all your blockbuster favorites are landing all summer long. Cat Catch. Anchorman, the Legend of Ron Burgundy.
- [29:39]
Progressive Insurance Announcer 2
Fantastic.
- [29:39]
Pluto TV Announcer
Men in Black, one through three.
- [29:41]
Fred (Truck Driver)
That's what I'm talking about.
- [29:42]
Pluto TV Announcer
Mean Girls.
- [29:43]
Maria (Survivor)
Shut up.
- [29:44]
Pluto TV Announcer
Titanic.
- [29:45]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I'm the king of the world.
- [29:46]
Pluto TV Announcer
And so much more. For showtimes, press nothing. They're free. 24. 7.
- [29:51]
Maria (Survivor)
That is so effective on Pluto TV.
- [29:54]
Pluto TV Announcer
Stream now. Pay never.
- [29:57]
Progressive Insurance Announcer 2
You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.
- [30:36]
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- [31:06]
Narrator
July 2007 in Fillmore, Utah. Fred is driving his 53 foot semi to California. The 40 ton big rig is fully loaded with swimming pool chemicals.
- [31:20]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I came up to a little town called Fillmore, Fillmore, Utah and as I passed that town I seen A. Oh, 10, 15 fire trucks on the shoulder on the side of the interstate. Each truck had their firemen, two, three, four firemen per truck and they weren't Talking to each other. I mean, they were all right there next to their trucks, like waiting for something to happen. You could see the smoke, and it's out there in the distance.
- [31:49]
Narrator
The fire had been sparked by lightning the day before.
- [31:53]
Fred (Truck Driver)
It's not unusual to see smoke. I mean, you see forest fires all the time, you know, but they're all controlled. Or if they're not, they, you know, they got roadblocks. So I slow down, I'm talking to truckers on the radio. Hey, do you guys. Is anything going on? I mean, are we supposed to stop? Is there a roadblock? And nobody could answer. And I said no. So I continue on, you know, and I'm going down there. I can still see the smoke. I got my AC on. I'm just cruising.
- [32:23]
Narrator
There is no roadblock to stop traffic heading up the mountain pass.
- [32:28]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I start my climb, the smoke starts getting closer and closer. The smoke was at a distance down in the flats. And as soon as I come to the mountain, it's like the smoke came around and came from behind the mountain and over us.
- [32:45]
Narrator
Fire moves 17 times faster uphill than on flat land.
- [32:50]
Fred (Truck Driver)
And then I seen an RV had come to a dead stop on the passing lane. Just a dead stop. And I'm thinking I'm going 40, 50 miles an hour, you know, and I'm lucky that there was nobody else on the slow lane. So I just swerve around them. And at that time, I'm just cursing them out as I pass them, swerve around them. I see why they stop. I mean, it goes from gray to black. I mean, gray to black. And as soon as I pass him, I see the darkness. And then I go, oh, my God, what did I get myself into? I could not turn around because I have a 53 foot trailer. The smoke is so dark, even if I was to find an exit, I probably wouldn't. I would miss it. That's how dark it was. I mean, it was, it was pitch dark. I made it about a quarter of the way up the mountain, maybe five miles in this dark smoke and this dark. I'm. I'm driving with my head up in the windshield, you know, because I cannot see the road. I'm just trying to focus on the lines. If there's a car in front of me, I'm running it over because I can't see him.
- [34:02]
Narrator
Smoke has started seeping into the truck's cab.
- [34:05]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I got a towel on my passenger seat. I just grab that towel and just put it around my head and tuck it in here. Cover My mouth and nose with it. My cab is already now full of smoke. It's just about as bad as inside as outside. I probably travel another two or three miles and then all of a sudden, like I said, this dark smoke just ignites. There's no more smoke. You can see all you want and all you can see is yellow and orange is just a fire. It was like a furnace, like somebody just turned the furnace on. I've seen fires before, forest fires, house fires, but I've never been through one. If I opened the door, I would have burned up. I mean, that's how bad the fire was. I was trying to stay on the road and I was also looking up and I swear that I could say that that fire was probably three to four stories tall. It was, I mean, it was the, the coolest thing, but yet the scariest thing, you know, imagined. The only thing I could see was the fire going from right to left. You couldn't see the sides of the mountains. It was all orange, yellow, just fire. That's all you could see is fire. I'm already in it. What can I do? Do I stop? If I stop, I burn. I'll burn up alive there. So, you know, the only chance that I really had was for the truck to keep going. My worry was, truck don't die, truck don't die. You know, that was my biggest fear, that my truck would have stalled on me. When you're climbing and you got 40 some thousand in the box, you can't go very fast. So I'm probably running 20 to 30 miles an hour and I'm probably on fifth or sixth gear. Lights were going off, buzzer's going off. Everything was telling me shut it down, shut it down. But I can't do that. Of course.
- [35:59]
Narrator
Fred's engine burst into flames.
- [36:02]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I started thinking about a lot of things, you know, started thinking about my family. I started thinking about my grandkids, you know, because I knew that there was no way I was going to survive that. I couldn't breathe. I could not breathe in there. I was choking. I was suffocating in there.
- [36:18]
Narrator
Afraid to take his eyes off the road, Fred could not use his cell phone.
- [36:22]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I think that the ugliest thing in the world is somebody dying without being able to say goodbye. I was driving through an inferno, a full blown inferno. The fire was like from one side of the interstate to the other and it was just like, like a comb over, it was just flying across. It was the most intense thing I've ever seen. My cab was so Full of smoke in there. And you could feel the heat coming out of the sides, the floor. You know, it was just hot, hot. And I wanted to open the window so bad, But I knew, you know, I knew that if I was to roll that window down a little bit, that would have been it. So I said, well, you know, just. Just hang on. Just hang on. Sweat was dripping down my face. I mean, it was so hot in there. My steering wheel was getting hot. Everything was just so hot. There was fire coming out of the hood. Underneath the hood. It's got air breathers on the two sides. They were just fire coming out. Not smoke, just fire coming out of there. I could see my doors, Fire, flames coming upwards from the sides of my doors. And I thought, you know, for sure the. My tanks would explode. It was just a miracle that the truck did not, you know, stall on me. It kept going. It was nothing but a furnace. And then I seen the end of the fire. And when I seen the end of the fire, I said, I made it. I've got through. You know, I don't care how much this thing burns. If there's an opening, I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna take it. When I pulled over, I mean, it was just. When I grabbed that door handle, it actually burned my hand to open the door. That's how hot it was out there.
- [38:08]
Narrator
Fred jumped from the burning truck and ran for his life.
- [38:12]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I must have been doing about 60 miles an hour on foot. It seemed like I was running as fast as I could.
- [38:19]
Narrator
Behind him, another vehicle emerged from the flames.
- [38:23]
Fred (Truck Driver)
They just flew right through there. And when they see me running down the interstate, they pulled over.
- [38:29]
Narrator
The female driver and her children were in shock.
- [38:33]
Fred (Truck Driver)
She is just scared. So scared. She jumps out, and she's checking the babies in the back. And you could tell that she is, you know, in fear. And I tell her, you know what? Jump in the back. Take care of your kids. Let me drive us out of here, because that fire is right on our backside. It's coming at us. And those babies were just suffocating back there. We took off, and we got out of there. Probably two or three miles down the road, we see a roadblock. There's a row of cars probably 10 miles long, heading northbound. They had roadblocks, and I'm telling the police officer, why don't you guys have roadblocks going southbound? What's the point of blocking one side and not the other? You want to just have half of the people survive and not the other half? His answer was that they didn't expect that fire to jump as quick. In reality, I should be dead. I should be burned up right now. And they had no answers for me, you know, just that they were shorthanded and he was very sorry. Windshield actually melted. All the glass on the truck melted. The only thing that was left of it was just the frame and, you know, and what's really crazy is that tanks never exploded.
- [39:51]
Narrator
It was the biggest fire in Utah's history and destroyed an area larger than the cities of New York and Chicago combined.
- [40:00]
Fred (Truck Driver)
I survived because I was a very lucky person and a good driver. I kept my head. I think that's the only thing that saved my life.
- [40:17]
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Carvana Advertiser
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