‘I guess we were meant to be there,’ says woman who saved driver from car fire

TOQUERVILLE, Utah  — Deanna McNary said she and her husband were following another vehicle as they drove south on S.R. 17 on Wednesday night. The other vehicle was on fire, McNary told KSL, and the driver didn’t know it.

“We were following the car and saw flames coming out the bottom,” McNary said in a message to KSL. “The poor lady had no idea.”

McNary said they started flashing their lights at the driver ahead of them and even drove alongside her, trying to get her to pull over. 

“We think she probably thought we were crazy.”

It wasn’t until the McNarys pulled in front of the other driver that she pulled over.

“We pulled her from her car and flames were now in [the] engine and side of [the] car,” McNary said in her message to KSL.

Sgt. Cameron Roden with the Utah Highway Patrol confirmed that the car, a Hyundai Elantra, was fully engulfed when help arrived. But nobody was in the car, and there were no injuries.

He believes the fire started due to a mechanical problem.

McNary said she’s grateful she and her husband were there at the right time, after choosing to take a slightly longer scenic route on their way home to see the fall colors.

“I guess we were meant to be there,” she said.

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