‘This is my livelihood’: Redmond man saves life as his dump truck, business goes up in flames
Oct 19, 2023, 7:35 AM | Updated: 7:59 am
(Photo from KIRO 7)
(Photo from KIRO 7)
A car slammed into a dump truck and burst into flames around noon on Tuesday in Redmond. Eyewitnesses clocked the sedan going about 60 mph, weaving in and out of traffic right up until the crash.
The Redmond Police Department said the dump truck driver, Daniel Backman was turning right into a driveway. Backman told us he had his blinker on, checked his mirrors, and saw the coast was clear. When he was mid-turn, the white car hopped into the right lane and tried to zip past his truck, but instead, the car slammed right into the truck’s diesel fuel tank.
“That guy came around me at 60 miles an hour all I saw was a white flash just under the mirror and he was in the fuel tank,” said Backman.
Backman said he didn’t know the car was on fire until he got out of his truck, walked around to the other side, and saw flames hitting 6 feet tall. The car was wedged under his truck, right in the gas tank, in a now burning puddle of diesel. Backman’s boots even caught a light because the fire burned too hot.
“It’s a little bit of burn. It charred it off. It was frayed yesterday. It was hot enough when I walked up that it charred it,” said Backman. “All that’s going through your head is I hope it doesn’t blow up. In a matter of two minutes, the tires were exploding. It’s hot and it burns fast and it’s hot. Well, it’s just plastic between you and the fire it was through the glove box when I got back in the truck.”
Backman jumped back into his burning truck and threw it in reverse to give the other driver, a 54-year-old man, an escape route. Backman said the man then ran and hid.
“I never saw him until police were walking out with him. I don’t know where he went. Not a thank you for not letting me burn to death,” said Backman.
The now totaled truck is the first Backman bought to start his own dump truck business, Backman Trucking LLC. He’s had it less than a year, and the burned-up frame is all that’s left of the businesses he and his wife poured their hearts into.
“This is my livelihood, that’s everything. It’s not just a truck it’s my kid’s next meal and it’s gone,” he said. “Something like this for one of us little guys that’s trying to make it. It’s devastating, I don’t know how I’m going to make my mortgage payment.”
Police arrested the 54-year-old driver of the other car for reckless driving. Backman said they don’t know what their next move is. The only thing they know for sure is their business is hemorrhaging $2,000 every day they can’t use their only dump truck.
