According to officials, a Wisconsin demolition derby driver was taken to the hospital with significant burns after his car caught fire in the pit of the Ozaukee County Fair Demo Derby.
The event took place in Cedarburg on Friday night.
According to Cedarburg Police, the 22-year-old male took part in the Demo Derby, according to WISN. He pulled his car into the pit despite withdrawing from the race because the vehicle’s fuel tank had been harmed during the competition. The automobile eventually caught fire after the man and his buddies made numerous efforts to ignite it, burning him.
“We are trying to figure out why it won’t start, and that’s when everything just exploded,” the victim’s friend Collin Wilcox told Fox 6.
Before the fire was put out, according to the police, the man was assisted in exiting the vehicle by other participants.
According to Fox 6, the man had first- to third-degree burns all over his body. He was taken to the hospital.
“He got lucky,” Cedarburg Police Sgt. Eric Weisenberger said, according to Fox 6. “Fire can get out of control really fast, and just the quick reaction of his friends and all the organizations helping in the event, I think, truly saved his life.”
The derby on Saturday night will require additional fire and EMS personnel, according to the police.
“He’s in the best spirits he can be, for what happened,” Wilcox said. “We had him laughing, so that’s all matters.”
