It was early Sunday morning when James R. Smith Trucking driver Amir Ali saw a motorist waving her arms. What Ali did next was not only smart, but heroic and would lead to receiving a medal for his quick action and selflessness.
Ali was traveling on Interstate 81 in Virginia when he saw a lady desperately attempting to stop traffic, to no avail, until she was able to get the attention of Ali. He explained what happened next, “I looked to the left and there was a car on fire and people were trying to break the windows. My first thought is there might be kids in the backseat.”
As the traffic continued to flow, Ali knew he had to stop the traffic and he did so by blocking the road with his truck. He said, “I took my truck and blocked the entire freeway to get the traffic to stop so people could try to get across the freeway to help the guy. After I blocked the freeway, I jumped out and grabbed my fire extinguisher.”
As he approached the burning Jeep Cherokee, others were attempting to get the door open to help the driver who was unconscious, slumped over with his head resting on the steering wheel. Ali recalled, “A fire was right in front of the steering wheel outside, so I started spraying it with the fire extinguisher to try and keep the flames away from the window.”
Other good samaritans were able to break the back window and unlock the door by crawling in the burning car. Ali continued, “At that time, my fire extinguisher had run out. The driver was kind of a big guy and they were trying to get him out of the car but couldn’t. “
Those at the scene struggled to free the driver from the waist down. Ali took charge instructing everyone to “grab a limb.” They were able to free the unconscious man and pull him to safety near a barricade. “He started coming out of it, but he was in shock. I ran back to the truck and got him a blanket and some water.”
With Ali’s truck blocking the freeway, first responders were able to quickly make their way to the accident scene by coming up the freeway from the opposite direction. Law enforcement, the fire department and other first responders were then able to take over.
As Ali and another witness, who was the young man who jumped in the burning car to unlock the door, gave their information to the officers, they were called over to another vehicle. He said, “I didn’t know who the guy was and they said, ‘just stand there for a minute.’ They came out and gave us a medal from Homeland Security. They told us thank you and while we were standing there, they were rolling the guy out to take him to the hospital.”
Ali was given a beautiful medal reading “Honor, Service, Integrity” on one side and “Homeland Security Investigations” on the back. He certainly wasn’t expecting any kind of accolades, but was grateful for the recognition.
Ali said that the decision to use his truck to block traffic came from his many years of military training. He said, “It was the right thing to do but the military, I’m proud military, so that kicked in.” Ali served three–and–a–half years in the Army and another six–and–a–half years in the Navy. Afterward, he went back overseas as a contractor. Ali, a resident of Birmingham and father of two, has been at James R. Smith for eight months, but has been driving trucks for close to eight years.
The maneuver he used to block the road was once a common practice according to Ali. He said, “Truckers used to be stopped to help with all kinds of stuff but over the years, they’ve kind of pushed us to the side.” Ali has seen all kinds of interesting things in his many years of driving, from people jumping out of the bushes needing a ride to ladies driving with their knees while putting on makeup.
He said, “Truck drivers save more lives on the freeway than people realize. We do a lot of things to prevent accidents and people don’t look at it that way. They just look at what they are doing. Defensive driving techniques we have learned actually help to prevent other cars from getting in an accident as well. I’ve also been in a situation where there is a real bad storm and people can’t see. People just get in a line with us and follow out tail lights. We would lead people out of the storm. We do a lot of stuff that people don’t go back and give us any recognition for.”
When we caught up with Ali at James R. Smith Trucking, he was enjoying an old episode of Gunsmoke and waiting for his new fire extinguisher. Assistant Safety Director Justin Heaton said, “This is a first for me, no doubt. We are lucky to have him.” Heaton believes that the actions of Ali can be a learning tool in future safety classes and meetings.
Heaton said of Ali, “He is very humble and we are proud of him.” Perhaps Ali’s actions will boost his chances for the company’s Driver of the Year. In the meantime, Ali said that he would be happy with a free dinner-–a fish sandwich at Applebee’s.
The driver pulled from his burning car is expected to make a full recovery. Ali concluded, “I told my wife that I just, like you do in the military, you just do what you got to do. Looking to do the right thing and it was the right thing to do.”
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