Paralympic participant rescues man from burning truck on way to training

PARLEYS CANYON, Utah (KUTV) — A Paralympic athlete rescued a man from his burning truck on the way to a training session.

Zach Miller, who suffers from cerebral palsy and competed in the 2022 Beijing Paralympics, is a two-time snowboarding world champion and a member of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboard Team.

Miller was riding his motorcycle through Parleys Canyon when he noticed fire in the wheel well of the truck next to him.

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“I look to my left, walk past this truck and see some kind of strange white smoke,” he said.

The GoPro camera on his helmet captured the moment he realized the truck was on fire.

“When I pulled up next to him, I saw the flames coming out of the engine compartment and I thought, ‘Okay, this is an emergency situation,'” Miller said.

Miller quickly signaled the driver to stop, knowing they had little time to put out the fire.

“I only had a few seconds to think about it. So we opened the hood and immediately went in with the water bottles. Luckily that was enough,” Miller said.

The fire was still spreading, but was quickly contained with the help of water bottles.

“Who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t stopped,” Miller said. “I don’t know if I even realize how crazy it is that it worked out so well.”

A video of the incident posted by Miller has been viewed over 20 million times online.

He doesn’t know what caused the fire, but remains in contact with the driver, who is fine.

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