Former Kansas City Chiefs player pulls man from burning truck after train collision

This sounds like a scene from a movie, but the scenario played out last week in a small town in eastern Idaho.

And instead of a Hollywood star springing into action, it was a former Chiefs player who put his life on the line to save another.

Brandon Bair, a defensive tackle who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs in July 2011 after playing at Oregon, told East Idaho News he was driving Thursday night when he saw a train hit a semi truck that was on the tracks.

There was an explosion but Bair drove nearer to the scene and tried to get close once the train stopped moving. The train conductors told Bair to keep his distance, East Idaho News reported, but he didn’t listen.

“It was a conscious decision that I’m going in because he needs help right now,” Bair told the newspaper. “I ran up to the window and saw dripping hot flames all over inside of the truck. I could see a guy in a seatbelt and was able to reach in and get it off of him. He was talking, and I told him we had to get out of here now.”

Even with the seatbelt off, the driver, Steven Jenson, was pinned in the cab, so Bair reached in in and the two broke the steering wheel and other equipment, the East Idaho News said.

“We walked away, and within seconds, the fire on the roof fell down inside, and the whole seat and cab went up in flames,” Bair said. “A few minutes later, there were a couple big booms and (explosions).”

Bair, who made the Chiefs’ 53-man roster in the 2011 season, didn’t appear in a game because of illness or being inactive. He went to training camp with the Chiefs in 2012 but was released on Aug. 31 and signed later in the year with the Raiders. He never played for the Raiders..

After signing with the Eagles in 2014, Bair appeared in 21 games in two seasons before his career ended in 2015. He had 1 1/2 career sacks, but a greater achievement was saving a person’s life.

“All I can say is this guy was supposed to live,” Bair told the newspaper. “I’m a man of faith, and I’ve learned to listen to your gut and the promptings you get. The Lord wanted him alive. Things could have gone different a million different directions, but things worked out on his behalf. That’s my conclusion. Whether it was me or someone else, he was supposed to live.”