Trucker Named TCA Highway Angel for

Extinguishing Vehicle Fire

August 4th, 2025

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Dee Leatherwood, from Burnet, Texas, a TCA Highway Angel for flagging down a car that was on fire and extinguishing the fire. Leatherwood drives for Melton Truck Lines out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It’s an incredible story of awareness and quick action. On July 10th, 2025, Leatherwood was driving on an Interstate just west of Atlanta, Georgia, when he noticed smoke and sparks coming from underneath a Ford pickup truck ahead of him.

“All of a sudden it started smoking; he slammed on his brakes and got on the shoulder,” said Leatherwood. “As I’m easing by, I could see fire dripping down plastic that had caught fire.”

As he got closer, he noticed a car seat in the back of the vehicle—heightening his sense of urgency. Without hesitation, he pulled over to help. Leatherwood grabbed his fire extinguisher and began spraying the underside of the vehicle to prevent the fire from spreading.

“I looked at that car seat and luckily there wasn’t a baby in it,” said the retired rancher and grandfather who has been driving a truck for two years. “I kept the fire as low as I could until the Fire Department arrived.”

Fortunately, there were no injuries to the driver and a nearby police officer soon arrived to provide further assistance. Thanks to Leatherwood’s quick thinking and calm response, a potentially dangerous situation was brought under control without harm.

“I wasn’t worried about anything else other than if there was a little one inside that pickup truck,” he said. “I would hope that anyone would do that in that situation, whether they had a fire extinguisher or not.”

Since the TCA Highway Angel program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,500 professional truck drivers have been recognized as TCA Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Leatherwood.

The TCA Highway Angels website can be accessed at https://www.truckload.org/highway-angel/.