Dump truck driver in critical condition, authorities say, after truck flips & catches fire

Published 1:29 pm Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A dump truck driver is in critical condition after his vehicle flipped and caught fire on Texas 87 north of the Keith Lake Bridge in Port Arthur earlier this week.

Port Arthur Fire Battalion Chief Patrick Murphy said the victim was hauling dirt for one of the companies working with the Golden Pass LNG plant.

Murphy said the man had burns on the top part of his body. The call for the crash came in about 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Murphy said there is a video on social media that shows the victim crawling out of the truck, and he was able to get himself between the rocks on the lake side and some water to try and shield himself from the heat.

“When we got to him he was on the other side of the levee,” Murphy said, adding the man was placed in a basket to be retrieved.

The well-traveled highway was shut down in both directions as firefighters and other emergency medical personnel worked to get the man to safety. A total of three engine trucks and a heavy-duty rescue unit were at the scene and an area was cleared for Air Rescue to land.

The man was airlifted to either a hospital in Galveston or Houston, Murphy said.

Port Arthur Police Sgt. Lam Nguyen said the incident involved the single vehicle. The department’s Advance Accident Reconstruction Team is working the case.

The man’s name and age have not been released pending notification of next of kin as the man lives out-of-state, Nguyen said.