Good Samaritan jumps into action, pulls driver out of pickup inferno on I-5 near Tacoma Dome



TACOMA -- When an Auburn father saw a pickup truck burning on the side of I-5, he didn't hesitate -- he ran over, stuck his arm in and pulled the driver from the inferno.

It was a dangerous truck fire, with big flames and black smoke near the Tacoma Dome on Tuesday.

"I immediately jumped out of the truck and sprinted as fast as I could to the vehicle," Jeremy Harstad said Wednesday.

That's when Harstad realized there was a man trapped inside.

"The guy was grasping the steering ... not in his right mind, not able to respond," he said.

So with the help of others who stopped, Jeremy risked his own life the save the elderly driver.

"I reached behind him, reached behind him ... flames were starting to come underneath the vehicle."

Truth is, Harstad is a contractor who has been preparing his whole life for that moment.

He's a volunteer with the city of Auburn's community emergency response team and at one point he trained to be a firefighter.

And when duty called, he didn't hesitate.

"The feeling it gives you to help somebody is probably one of the best I can think of," he said.

Harstad wants it to be known that others helped save the man.

No word on how that driver pulled from the truck is doing.