Not only did social media find the driver, there’s a Go Fund Me to help him out.
Earlier this week, multiple witness videos went viral, showing a box truck literally on fire driving through San Jose and on adjacent freeways.
With flames shooting out of the cargo area and pieces of wood and debris falling off, it was a spectacle on wheels hard for South Bay residents to miss.
Here’s one of many of those viral videos below.
Shortly after, major local news outlets like KRON 4 and NBC Bay Area picked up the story
And, a couple of days later, people spotted a burnt out box truck in San Jose that looked a lot like the one in the videos.
While a handful of people took photos for social media, the owner of @SanJoseFoos, a popular Bay Area Instagram account, did his own investigating, found the burned box truck, and stuck around long enough to catch the owner.
San Jose Foos not only found out details about why he drove around for so long with his truck on fire, but a little bit about his situation and what he lost in the ensuing blaze.
“Mike, tell us a little about your story,” San Jose Foos asked. “Is it true you live in this box truck and what happened to all your belongings?”
“Everything was converted,” Mike replied. “There was a shower and a bathroom, a full bed, and a full kitchen. Everything that I owned and my tools are all hanging in here because it was just almost complete. Now, clothes are gone, everything.”
“Apparently, one of the batteries that I was charging off the inverter caught on fire,” Mike explains in SJFs Instagram Stories (linked here.)
“The truck caught on fire somewhere between the Lawrence Expressway and Montague. Someone that was going along with me said, “You’re truck’s smoking, there might be a fire.” I pulled over immediately to the inside lane, jumped outside, opened the back and sure enough there was a sizeable fire already.
“I tried to go in a few times, it was really hot, managed to get the covers off the bed. There were two containers of propane that I was worried about so I took it (drove the box truck) off the freeway…”
You can see the exact moments Mike described in that last paragraph in a witness video here.
If you’re still confused what happened, SJF posted up this quick recap.
It seems like Mike did not know his box truck was on fire for quite some time and, even when he found out, he bravely drove it aflame to get the burning mess away from San Jose drivers.
Amy Montes, a family friend of Mike’s, found out about Mike’s predicament and started a Go Fund Me.
“Mike currently does not have a place to stay,” Amy explains. “Any donations will be greatly appreciated and given to him. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.”
So far, over $4,600 has been raised for Mike.
If you want to help Mike out, his GFM details are linked above.
