A Navy officer-turned-NASCAR driver rescued four people from a minivan moments before the vehicle exploded on the side of a California interstate over the weekend.
Lt. Jesse Iwuji had been driving home from NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup Series Race just north of San Francisco and through Grapevine, Calif., Sunday evening when he noticed a van pulled over on the side of the I-5 with a small fire underneath the vehicle.
Iwuji pulled over a bit of a distance away and walked over to the van to help.
“As I was walking toward them I noticed that fire underneath was getting just a little bit bigger,” Iwuji told Nascar.com in an interview following the incident. “Just being around race cars and things that can catch on fire, I knew that something like this just doesn’t slowly become a big fire. It can quickly ignite and become a bad situation really quick.”
Iwuji evacuated the two parents and two children, who were still sitting inside the van. He said he dragged the father out of the car after he tried to take a number of possessions with him.
“We got away and just right after that, the engine just burst into flames,” Iwuji said. “From there, it then went into the front seat, then into the back seat, then it got to the fuel cell area and the whole thing erupted.”
Safety safety safety guys and girls. I saw a small little fire underneath this family of 4’s van and I knew right then it was about to be bad news. I’m glad I stopped and got them away because they were still worried about getting stuff out the car. Things went from small to bad pic.twitter.com/av6C7j76Nd
— Jesse Iwuji (@Jesse_Iwuji) June 25, 2018
Within minutes, the fire had spread to the engine and the vehicle exploded, sending a massive cloud of black smoke into the air. Iwuji posted video of the fire for the purpose of reminding people to get involved when they see people in need.
“Don’t be a passerby,” Iwuji said. “Go help if you see something wrong. Don’t just drive by with your cell phone and record it; stop and help. That was the main reason, to really show people that you can do your small part. It has nothing to do with trying to be a hero or anything like that. You just do the right thing.”
Iwuji, still a Navy officer in addition to his racing job, believes his military background was one of the reasons he decided to take action rather than drive by and just hope for the best.
“I think [being in the service] has a lot to do with it,” Iwuji said.
