FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Dramatic video captured an explosive vehicle fire on Interstate 95 South near Exit 18 in Foxborough on Tuesday. It shows a barefoot driver casually walking away from an SUV just as parts of it begin to explode.
Jeremy Rys was driving on the highway when he noticed the SUV ahead of him starting to smoke.
“Other drivers were trying to flag him down,” Rys told Boston 25 News. “He’s like, ‘nah, I’m okay,’ and they’re like, ‘no, you’re not!’”
The driver eventually pulled over, with Rys stopping nearby. Along with another good Samaritan, Rys encouraged the driver to move away from the SUV as flames began to spread.
Rys recorded the ordeal on his cellphone. At one point, the driver said he needed to go back to retrieve his phone from the vehicle.
Rys’ video captured the other driver yelling, “No, you do not!”
“It’s not worth it, bro,” Rys added.
But the man went back anyway.
“He wouldn’t let us stop him,” Rys told Boston 25 News. “We tried to talk him out of it and tell him it’s a bad idea.”
As Rys continued recording, the driver casually walked back to the SUV, opened the passenger door, and retrieved several items. As he turned and walked back toward Rys, the front passenger-side tire exploded just feet behind him. The driver barely seemed to notice.
“He doesn’t even look back behind him,” Rys recalled. “It’s like in Hollywood, where you don’t look back at explosions.”
Reached by phone, the driver told Boston 25 News he returned to the SUV to retrieve several items, including his wallet, which he said he needed for a bill he was on his way to pay. He said the SUV’s engine was replaced in July, and he believed he had time to safely gather some of his belongings before the fire spread.
Rys said he is grateful nobody was hurt.
“He assured me there was nobody else in the car, and I just left it at that,” Rys said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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