Two New Hope firefighters narrowly avoided tragedy after their brush truck caught fire Saturday.
Chief Eric Lopez and a firefighters from the New Hope Volunteer Fire Department were working a major brush fire near Cement when they noticed the emergency vehicle was on fire.
“I was getting out of the truck and looked back that way, you see flames come behind the truck and we didn’t even have a chance,” Lopez told KSWO. “It took the truck out.”
The two were able to escape the vehicle and were not injured.
“I was in a different truck and seen two guys I’m on the same department with running over the hill,” New Hope firefighter Rusty Tryon told the television station. “I’m like, ‘Okay, what happened?’ And we never heard a mayday call, nothing. They didn’t have time to grab a radio.”
Officials said the fire, caused by a hay baler, burned several hundred acres.
Now, the department is seeking help replacing the truck that was destroyed.
“A truck can be replaced,” Lopez told KWSO. “Life can’t. We’ve got many volunteers here that help each other. If it wasn’t for every volunteer, Cyril, Cement, without them. We’ve got brotherhood, you know, we have each other.”