FRANKSVILLE, WI — A fiery crash on I-94 in Racine Thursday left three people with minor injuries and caused backups for hours. But in the moments as the fire built up, two men stepped up to help.
Jessica Mudge wrote into TMJ4 to highlight the efforts her fiancé and father made Thursday morning
Northbound I-94 is the route Jason Mudge and Evan Raymore take to work every morning. But Thursday morning was anything but routine.
"I said, 'Evan, hold on, I think there's a semi, a truck in the road.' You could barely see the truck; it was still dark out," Mudge said.
A van had been hit from behind by a semi. The semi traveled across all northbound lanes, hit the median, overturned, caught fire and started leaking diesel.
After Evan and Jason saw the fire, they pulled off, crossed four lanes of interstate traffic, and what they did next potentially saved lives.
When the two got to the truck, one of the drivers was still stuck in the semi's passenger seat.
"There was a guy there kicked the window a couple times, and he said to us, 'There's a guy in the cab,'" Mudge said.
Watch: Fiery I-94 crash in Racine leads to act of heroism by two good Samaritans
"I kicked it once or twice; we're just frantic trying to get it, and finally I just grabbed the window myself and ripped it open, and Evan was trying to grab the guy out and pull it out," Mudge said.
Evan and Jason springing into action was something they say wasn't even a question.
"I wouldn't want to imagine if it was me in that situation, if he was in that situation — I would pray that somebody would take that quick second to even check and take a look," Raymore said.
The two share more than just a job. Soon, they will share a family.
The act strengthened the bond between the two.
"That made me proud to know that when I told Evan that we should go check, he was like, 'Let's do this,' cause now I know my daughter's in good hands with a man that will take responsibility and do what needs to be done to help others. I'm pretty happy about that," Mudge said.
Everyone involved in the crash suffered only minor injuries.
"It doesn't take much, just a second of your time to just go and look right quick to make sure that the person is alright," Raymore said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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