A truck driver stranded after his semi truck caught fire received some much needed help from state troopers in North Carolina earlier this month.
Truck driver Ali Jassim was driving along Interstate 77 in north Carolina after stopping at a rest area when his truck suddenly caught fire, forcing him to pull over.
“I tried to use my extinguisher, but the fire was already too big,” he said, explaining how he had only escaped the fire with his phone and a pack of cigarettes.
Left with none of his money or important paperwork such as social security card or proof of citizenship after his rig burned to the ground, Jassim was stranded in Statesville, North Carolina with no way to get back home to Colorado, and that’s where North Carolina troopers stepped in to help.
Troopers Nick Chapman, Isaac Hammer, Anthony McLain, Travis Meadows, Marla Powell and some highway patrol communications workers set out to help Jassim by reaching out to local churches, as well as their local CVS in an attempt to collect enough money to send him home, reported The Statesville Record and Landmark.
Thankfully, their combined efforts worked, and the group was able to gather enough funds to pay for a rental car, a phone charger, water, and enough money for food, gas, and lodging as he made his way back to his home in Colorado.
“These are the members of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol,” 1st Sgt. C.R. Jones said.
“I have faith that this is the standard of our men and women, and know this is what it means to put this uniform on every day and represent North Carolina. We could not ask for any better ambassadors.”
Jassim has since made it home and says that his next step is to replace all the important documents he lost in the still-unexplained blaze.
“The officers helped me a lot. Everyone was so nice. Thank you to all the people who helped,” he said.