Everyday TX Tow Hero

Kudos to tow truck operator Kyle Evans for pulling a man from a burning vehicle! Here's the 33News story:

As a veteran tow truck driver, Kyle Evans has seen his share of car crashes. He guesses, "Two or three bad accidents a month, real bad ones."

But even his 13-years of experience behind the wheel at home and in the military didn't prepare him for what happened Friday night on I-20 outside of Terrell. Kyle Evans says, "I heard brakes lock up and I looked across the interstate."

What he saw was a tragic, four-vehicle chain reaction crash investigators think started with an 18-wheeler hitting an SUV. Evans says, "As everything came to a stop, the SUV kind of burst into flames."

That's when Evans went running...toward the fire. The first victim he says he saw, "was a lady. She was thrown out of the car. She was on fire herself. I pulled her from the wreckage and pulled her out and asked someone to get a cover to cover her up."

Investigators today say it was 34-year old Lakeysha Greene of Frisco. Evans then noticed two young children inside, also dead. As a father himself, Evans wanted desperately to get the kids out, too. But when he moved the car's airbag, he spotted Wyndell Greene, alive, his eyes looking around and his hands fluttering. Kyle Evans says, "They grabbed a blanket and I threw it over my head and arm...and I just leaned in and I said, 'Give me your arm.' All I seen through the smoke was a hand and I grabbed him by the hand with both my hands and I pulled him out of the vehicle."

Saturday at the crash site, Evans says it tears him apart he couldn't get the kids' bodies out of the burning vehicle and hopes the family doesn't hold it against him.

When I asked him how he's doing, Kyle Evans says, "Seeing what I had seen, I had a hard time sleeping that last night. The images, hopefully like everything else, it'll go away."

Kyle Evans was checked out for smoke inhalation. Four other people were hurt. Wyndell Greene is hospitalized in critical condition with third-degree burns. Kyle Evans is asking all drivers to pay attention behind the wheel. He says it's simple and common sense. But he has witnessed, too many times, the dangers of the road.