CHIPPEWA, Pa. — What started as a normal evening of football and cheerleading practice in Chippewa on Tuesday took a terrifying turn when a blue truck burst into flames. One mom said her kids started running toward her from the restroom.
“I saw them running towards me and that’s normal because we’re at a big field, but then I saw their faces as they got closer and I’ve never seen my kids that scared,” she said. “They said they were right there beside it. They walked right past it, and they felt really hot and they looked over and it was on fire, so they just started sprinting.”
That mom didn’t want to be identified but sent some photos and video to Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
In the video, you can see the blue truck covered in flames which spread to a van and SUV.
Also in the video, you can hear the woman say she heard a pop, and then what sounds like popping coming from the fire, followed by a burst of flames and a gasp from the woman recording.
She quickly called the police.
“When I called 911, they said ‘please urge everyone to stay away from the vehicle,’” she said.
Some parents grabbed fire extinguishers to help keep the fire contained before firefighters arrived. The mom who spoke with Channel 11 said she was terrified, worried that kids may have been in the cars.
“That was my first thought was ‘oh my goodness there’s a minivan right there. Is the little baby in there?’ I got so scared, but everything turned out okay,” she said.
Luckily, no one was in any of the cars, and no one was hurt. All three cars were destroyed by the fire and towed from the scene.
“If you see flames, just get everybody away,” the mom said. “Don’t try to be the hero. Let the heroes be the heroes.”
In the incident report, Chippewa Police said they did not see anything suspicious that may have caused the fire. They also checked security video from the park but said it does not show how the fire might have started.
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