Newly released bodycam footage shows a terrifying, split-second rescue in Washington state, where a quick-thinking bystander and a sheriff’s deputy dragged an injured mailman from a smoke-filled USPS truck moments before it could explode.
The heart-stopping incident happened Jan. 8 in Parkland after a USPS truck slammed into a white sedan on Park Avenue South. The crash left the mail carrier trapped inside his vehicle as thick smoke poured out and fire spread rapidly.
Video shared by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office shows the truck shrouded in smoke while panic unfolds around it. With the driver unable to move and flames threatening to take over, Stephanie Burkhart Mabee sprinted toward the burning vehicle — armed with nothing but courage and a few tools from her car.
“It was really, really smoking,” Mabee later told KIRO. “You could tell it was getting ready to go.”
As seconds ticked by, Mabee smashed the truck’s door handle with a hammer to force it open, then sliced through the driver’s seat belt to pull him free. Moments later, a deputy arrived and blasted the flames with a fire extinguisher — but the fire refused to die.
That’s when things turned even more dangerous.
Realizing the truck could erupt at any moment, Mabee and the deputy ran back through the smoke and dragged the injured mailman even farther away from the vehicle as it continued to burn.
“We noticed the fire wasn’t going out,” Mabee said. “So we both ran back over to the guy and pulled him further away.”
Authorities said the mail carrier and a backseat passenger from the sedan were rushed to local hospitals in serious condition.
Mabee later explained why she didn’t hesitate — even with her own safety on the line.
“I would hope if that were someone in my family, people wouldn’t just sit in their cars and watch,” she said.
In a message posted alongside the chilling footage, the sheriff’s office praised Mabee’s fearless actions and thanked first responders for stepping in when every second mattered.
The video has since stunned viewers — a raw reminder that ordinary people can become heroes when disaster strikes without warning.
We need to ban INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VEHICLES due to the fire hazard. Look it up, EV haters: hybrids have the most, internal combustion VERY close behind and EVs have a tiny fraction of either and that’s by PERCENTAGE, so don’t say, “well, that’s because there are less of them.” I’ve seen MANY internal combustion engine fires along the highway, but I’ve NEVER seen an EV on fire. The infamous Chevy Bolt EV had less than 2 dozen confirmed battery fires out of 141,000 on the road at the time of the recall.