Agencies
Services
IDOT Blog – Thursday, April 17, 2025
District 1 workers save motorists from pickup fire
On the morning of Feb. 25, a District 1 crew of Heavy Construction Equipment Operator Kevin Keevil, Highway Maintainer Jan Jarog and Highway Maintainer Michael Ferrarini were on duty, heading south on Interstate 355 at Hill Avenue near the Chicago suburb of Lombard when they spotted trouble.
Keevil, who was driving ahead of Jarog and Ferrarini in a separate vehicle, was flagged down by a man who pointed toward a smoking truck.
“He asked if I had a fire extinguisher,” Keevil said. “I got the extinguisher out of the truck and went to help the others. The smoke started to turn into flames. At first, we did not see anyone in the cab of the truck but then saw a person on the floor under the dash. We used the extinguisher to get the fire down and pulled the person out of the truck.”
Following behind, Ferrarini and Jarog saw the burning truck on the shoulder and immediately pulled over to help.
“Jan went over to where there was a motorist being pulled out of the burning vehicle,” said Ferrarini. “I went to the other side. There was a second motorist wandering around confused, with his jacket on fire. I patted the flames down and extinguished the fire. It was a chaotic event, but we got people away from the flaming vehicle with everybody’s help. Then, we waited for the fire department and police to arrive.”
Jarog said it was a team effort.
“I got out of our truck and went to where Keevil and other motorists were,” he said. “They were with the victim from the pickup truck. I assisted in moving the victim further away from the burning pickup truck. We also were putting out flames and removing the burning clothing of the victim until Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene.”
Keevil suffered a burn to his hand while helping extinguish the flames.
“You think that it would be a normal day at work going to the jobsite. How quickly it changes,” Keevil said. “I never thought that I would be helping out in an accident saving someone’s life. It was a great feeling.”
Ferrarini and Jarog agreed.
“I wasn’t really thinking, but geared more toward assisting the motorists to safety,” Ferrarini said. “It was a group effort to provide aid with the others on the scene.”
“Seeing that someone needed help, I just reacted to the situation in helping the victim, not giving it any thought,” Jarog added.
Operations Supervisor John Bilski praised the men for their quick thinking.
“All three were involved with other motorists in using a fire extinguisher to get the fire down to a point where they were able to remove the victims from the cab of the burning pickup truck,” said Bilksi. “They assisted in rendering first aid until EMS and Fire arrived on scene. I commend their actions and service to the motoring public.”
