Nathan Frederick had just put $700 into fixing up a used truck for his DoorDash delivery job when something completely unexpected happened.
“Something from a semi hit me, and so I pulled off at this exit and somehow my truck was on fire,” Frederick told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday. “I can’t believe this.”
As soon as he realized the truck was on fire, Frederick jumped out and was immediately dialing numbers, trying to get help as fast as possible.
Even as he was frantically making calls, though, passersby through the Hat Six Travel Center exit on Interstate 25 just east of Casper were showing him just why Wyoming is such a great place. They were taking matters into their own hands to help him put the fire out as quickly as possible.
“These truck drivers who had fire extinguishers on board were just tossing them to me on their way through the exit,” he said. “And there were motorists who were stopping to give me jugs of water.”
In the end, it was the jugs of water that really put the fire’s lights out for good — though the extinguishers did help knock the fire back considerably in the beginning — enough so that Frederick could pop the hood on the burning truck and douse his poor engine with fire-quenching water.
It Could Have Been Worse
By the time first responders arrived on the scene, Frederick already had the fire mostly out. Though he was visibly shaken, he was still counting his blessings when he talked to Cowboy State Daily.
“I burned my hand,” he said. “But the fire is out and nobody got hurt. It could have gone much worse if everyone hadn’t stopped to help.”
Frederick, who is originally from Minnesota, knows just how much worse vehicle accidents can get. He was in a particularly bad wreck while living there after his girlfriend at the time, who was driving, decided to try and kill herself by ramming their vehicle into a tree.
“When the emergency responders arrived, they thought I had to be dead,” Frederick said.
That’s because a large tree was sticking into the passenger side window where he was sitting. It had ripped the headrest where his head would normally have been right off.
“I should have died. The vehicle was turned upside down,” Frederick said. “But I heard this voice in my head telling me to put my head between my legs and buckle the seat belt.”
He knows that is what ultimately saved him from certain death.
If he had not done exactly what the voice told him to do, his head would have been right where the tree came through the window and tore out the headrest.
Nathan Frederick puts a fire extinguisher a passing semi truck driver gave him to good use, tamping down a fire that started under the hood. That allowed him to get the hood open, so he could see what was going on and douse the engine with water. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
A firefighter checks on Nathan Frederick while he's on the phone calling his girlfriend for a ride. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Firefighters gather around Nathan Frederick's truck at the Hat Six exit near Casper. A fire unexpectedly started under the hood after Frederick's truck was struck by something from a passing semi. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Glad To Live In Wyoming
Knowing how much worse things could have gone allowed Frederick to be stoic about losing his truck, even though he’d just spent so much money to fix it up.
“There’s no way to save the truck,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s all melted in there. I’ve got an old convertible with a blown-up engine that I can maybe put a motor into and fix up. I’ll make do somehow.”
In the meantime, even though his hand was badly burned from trying to open the hood so he could get the fire put out, he was more focused on how he was going to get his undelivered groceries to his DoorDash customer.
He didn’t have to wait long. Strangers were offering to help him deliver the groceries — but, before too long, his girlfriend also showed up on the scene.
“It was great to see how so many people were willing to stop and help,” he said. “I think like a dozen or so people stopped in all, and everyone was tossing me jugs of water and fire extinguishers and doing whatever they could to help.”
Things like that make newcomers like Frederick glad they live in Wyoming, where there’s always a cowboy or two willing to go an extra mile to help a stranger in need.
Contact Renee Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
