Abilene High student escapes vehicle fire; 'I'm glad to be alive.'

Ronald W. Erdrich, Abilene Reporter-News
·1 min read
A pickup burns Wednesday in the 2500 block of South 27th Street.
A pickup burns Wednesday in the 2500 block of South 27th Street.

Abilene High junior Karl Berry was in his pickup Wednesday, traveling west on South 27th Street when he heard a loud pop.

Moments later, another pickup pulled up beside him.

"The guy driving next to me told me to pull over. He said my truck was on fire," he said. "As soon as I stopped, it got engulfed in the front."

Berry was returning to school from a doctor appointment. He called his mother, Cathy Herrera, and watched as the Abilene Fire Department's Engine 3 arrived to extinguish the fire.

Cathy Herrera hugs her son Karl Berry after arriving at the scene in the 2500 block of South 27th Street after his pickup caught fire Wednesday. The Abilene High junior was unharmed.
Cathy Herrera hugs her son Karl Berry after arriving at the scene in the 2500 block of South 27th Street after his pickup caught fire Wednesday. The Abilene High junior was unharmed.

The pickup was still in the lane where he left it, time was too short to even pull over.

"I got out right as it started to flame around me," he said. "I'm glad to be alive."

More: City of Abilene trash truck hits power pole near Buffalo Gap Road

Ronald Erdrich is the photojournalist and a columnist for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: None injured in S. 27th Street pickup fire Wednesday