Man narrowly escapes burning van with help of stranger nearby
Dec 10, 2024, 6:53 AM | Updated: 6:56 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.
“It was an incredibly surreal experience. It took a second for me to even register that it was happening,” Boone said.
A man in a wheelchair narrowly escaped a burning van with the help of a stranger, who heard his cries for help. (Courtesy Kaden Wadsworth)
Meanwhile, Kaden Wardsworth was scraping ice off of his car windows a few parking stalls away, when he noticed “a little trail of fire.”
“I look down the road and I see the van on fire,” Wadsworth said. At first, I was just looking to see if anyone was in the driver’s seat and I didn’t see anybody.”
Wadsworth said he almost walked away from the van but he then heard Boone’s voice.
“I started to yell for help and that’s when Kaden heard me,” Boone said.
“At that point, I still didn’t see him so I was like, ‘Can you get out?’ and he’s like, ‘No. I’m in a wheelchair,’” Wadsworth said. “At that point, I walked around and I was like, ‘Oh my.’”
Wadsworth rushed to rescue Boone. As he pulled Boone out of the van, Wadsworth heard an explosion and saw a fireball disperse from under the hood.
“Luckily, we were both okay and at that moment, we just had to hurry and carry him out,” Wadsworth said. “You don’t think that something like that is going to happen until it does.”
Both men were relieved Wadsworth happened to be in the right place at the right time.
“It was very early in the morning, I don’t think anyone else was out there,” Boone said. “I’m extremely grateful that he was out there and was able to probably save my life.”
Boone also expressed his gratitude for the South Salt Lake firefighters who managed to salvage his wheelchair from the fiery van.
“I was so devastated when I (thought) everything had burned,” Boone said. “The chair would’ve taken months to replace. You have to meet with doctors and physical therapists — this chair was $20,000. It’s a really extensive process.”
According to Boone, the cause of the fire is under investigation and the van was deemed a total loss. Boone said his van was worked on for a broken serpentine belt the week before the incident. He suspects the engine fire started in the same area as the serpentine belt.
KSL has contacted the South Salt Lake Fire Department for more information on their investigation and will update this article as that information becomes available.
Boone’s friends have a *GoFundMe set up to help pay for a new wheelchair-accessible van, which they estimate will cost about $90,000 to replace.
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
