Man narrowly escapes burning van with help of stranger nearby
Dec 10, 2024, 9:00 AM
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man who narrowly survived being burned alive is sharing his story.
Chris Boone, 35, was heading to work when the engine in his van burst into flames.
“You could see it burned the windshield which is a very scary thought of getting that close to me,” Boone said, looking over pictures of his totaled van.
On Wednesday around 7:30 a.m., Boone said he was backing out of his parking stall at his apartment building in South Salt Lake when he noticed something was wrong with his van.
“When I started to go forward, I hit the gas a little bit, and it kind of froze up. So I pumped the gas a little more because it was very cold that morning and I thought maybe it was frozen, and right when I did that, flames popped up out of the engine area,” Boone said.
As a child, Boone had a spinal cord tumor that led to him being unable to walk. He relies on a specialized wheelchair and has a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
As the fire erupted, Boone became trapped inside his van when the ramp for his wheelchair malfunctioned.
Read the full story and more from Garna Mejia on ksltv.com.
