DORR, Mich. — One man is still alive after a Good Samaritan pulled him off an ATV that had caught fire in Dorr. Wyoming resident Adam Haviland was in the right place at the right time.
As a liquor truck driver, Haviland has seen his fair share on the road.
"I've seen stuff where [a] car wrapped into a tree, three in the morning," said Haviland at his home in Wyoming Tuesday.
However, he said nothing compares to what happened Tuesday afternoon.
"I've been driving for 25 years, and that's the worst I've seen," Haviland said.
He spotted a brush fire near 18th Street and 138th Avenue while headed towards Grand Rapids on a country road in Dorr.
"But I, out of the corner of my eye, saw an ATV in the fire, and that didn't look right, so I hit the brakes, put the truck in reverse and called 911," recalled Haviland.
He was the first person to call it in and the first person on scene.
"I saw a woman coming out of the fire, and she's screaming and waving her arms. And so I jumped out, and we have a small fire extinguisher in trucks. I grabbed that and ran over there; I think I just I couldn't hear what she was saying, because she's just screaming," Haviland said.
That's when he noticed the man stuck on the ATV — and on fire.
"Her pants were just smoking because she was down on her knees trying to... just trying everything to get him out," said Haviland. "So I went in and I grabbed him by the belt and his arm and pulled him out, you know, about eight feet out of the fire, and all the while talking to dispatch."
Haviland said the man was conscious but was in desperate need of medical attention.
"I heard one of the firefighters say he had 40% burns. But when I grabbed his belt, that was all that was left of his pants. His shoes were gone. ... Back of his head was all burned and bloody, and his arm was bloody and his legs were really bad," Haviland said.
Emergency services arrived on scene in less than five minutes to tend to the couple, but Haviland hopes his story will inspire others to stay vigilant when on the road.
"Had I not seen that ATV, I would have thought it was a regular fire and kept going. And we have some family that lives out that way, and they said they drove past it just before that and just saw the guy setting some brush on fire. Didn't think anything of it," said Haviland.
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