Photo of Man in Orange Vest on I-294 The Xavierite
On the morning of Sunday, March 23, as I was driving on I-294 and an oil tanker overturned, causing a massive fire to burn. Every vehicle began to stop, and the next thing you know, everyone was running.
In the moment, I couldn’t help but think of the scene of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” when Doc Ock approaches Peter Parker on the highway, and everyone was running. However, this time around, someone was going car-to-car explaining why everyone was running.
It was a man wearing a neon vest, saying “help” on the back. I believe he was a highway safety officer. He explained exactly what was happening. “Oil truck might blow, get out of your car as fast as you can and run,” he yelled.
Essentially, as the fire began, oil began leaking from the truck onto the highway. The oil ended up being underneath cars, and if lit on fire, the cars could have possibly caught on fire as well.
With this, there was an extremely high chance that the oil tanker was going to explode. The fear of God shot into my soul, and I began running for my life.
At least two hundred people were running besides me. There were children, senior citizens, and adults alike. I’d never been in such a tragedy before. Seeing children clutching their stuffed animals tightly was enough to make me cry.
I made multiple phone calls explaining what was happening, trying to maintain my composure. As the crowd of people distanced themselves from the fire, there was one man trying to calm everyone down. That man just so happened to be the one in the orange vest.
He had a walkie talkie on his belt, and was actively picking up and talking to the authorities on-site. With every update, he told everyone what was going on.
People would ask questions, and he had answers for every single one of them. He even offered his jacket to a young man who was cold. It’s people like this, that I consider to be heroes.
In the media, people think that superheroes are the made up people that fight crime. To me, heroes are the people who go out trying to help others even when they themselves are in danger.
As we all continued to stand by the edge of the highway, waiting to see an explosion, the man in the vest decided to go check in with firefighters. We were all scared that when he would get up there, the explosion would happen. However, it didn’t.
He returned with news from the firefighters, that the fire had been completely extinguished. However, the oil needed to be cleared from I-294 before anyone could continue their drive.
It was a scary situation, and I think that the only reason I stayed calm was because the man had been there for us. Such selflessness is something that I don’t think anyone except God himself can live up to.
After an hour of standing by, we were allowed to go back to our vehicles. However, it wasn’t time to go yet. I never thought I’d ever be walking in the middle of the highway, but here we are.
The man kept walking up and down, asking if people were okay. It’s an action that I cannot forget.
As we all began driving off, going our separate ways, I had a realization. I don’t think anyone thanked him for everything he did that day. I felt bad, honestly.
I do have to say this, though: To you, whomever you may be, I want to thank you. Many lives could have been taken if things hadn’t been under control. You saved us from what could have been our final outings. You are a hero. Remember that.