raging fires, deadly flames, a massive explosion rips through a california community. >> oh, my god! >> highways become infernos. >> this is one of the most dangerous areas of interstate 40. >> firefighters face death in the line of duty. >> it's the closest i ever want to come to near death experience. >> and a day of celebration descends into chaos. >> at one point, the fireworks were going 40 to 50 feet up in the air. >> it's not my time to go, that's all i can think of.

caught on camera -- up in flames. hello, i'm contessa brewer. welcome to caught on camera. each year, fire kills more americans than all natural disasters combined. and yet we may not think about the things that surround us as potential threats, gas lines, tanker trucks and even the electrical wiring in your car. when you least expect it, a fire can happen. and when it happens on a large scale, whole neighborhoods can go up in flames. a massive explosion turns a california town into hell on earth. >> what the -- is that? >> september 9, 2010, it's just

another quiet even, but then at 6:11, disaster strikes. this gas station surveillance camera records the edge of a massive explosion a quarter mile away that rips through the neighborhood. startled drivers abandon the pumps and begin to drive away. a woman flees, clinging to her baby. residents grab their cameras and begin filming seconds after the blast. >> holy [ bleep ] holy [ bleep ], holy [ bleep ]. what the -- is that? >> their videos capture the unthinkable. a terrifying 100 foot tower of flame right in their own back yard. bill hotter hears the blast from

inside his apartment, and along with his neighbors steps out into the street to investigate. >> i pulled out my camera, this fireball just kept coming and coming, and it just didn't seem like there was any end to it. >> everybody get back! >> i was standing there in amazement. it looked like something out of a movie. >> these were among the first firefighters to arrive. but this fire is unlike anything they've ever seen. >> i was kind of astounded by the range of the fire, the number of houses that were actually on fire and free burning. the fire was unstoppable at one point, because it was leaping from house to house to house. >> it was basically a 360 degree fire. with a main fireball in the middle. so at this point we have people

self evacuating the neighborhood. i'm getting snapshots of pretty much every individual running. in 25 years in the fire service, i've never seen terror on people's faces like that. >> firefighters can't get near the flames due to the incontinues heat which radiates at temperatures near 1200 degrees. >> i got out of the engine, and i looked down to a car parked next to my engine. and the lens caps of the headlights and paint was melting off the car. so there was nothing you can do at that point, you couldn't even get within a block of that area. >> at one point, the engine company said that they saw that the asphalt had lit the oil in the asphalt on fire and the streets were actually burning. >> firefighters have not confirmed the cause of the explosion but don't have to look too far for the most likely

explanation. the city of san bruno lies adjacent to san francisco international airport. and all eyes begin looking up for answers. >> my immediate thought was that it was a plane crash and that was the initial report, people were wondering. the only thing that they thought could have caused an explosion of that magnitude would have been a jetliner crashing into a neighborhood. >> i was somewhat convinced that this was a plane, because i've never seen that much fire in my career in a condensed neighborhood like this. >> but no planes are reported missing from any of the bay area's airports. firefighters realize this explosion didn't come from the sky above, but the ground below. >> this looked fas this was not a jet fuel flame. this is a clean burning source. and about ten minutes into this, there's no reports of any bodies, any debris, anything related to a plane crash. so this must not be a plane crash.

this has got to be some sort of a gas source. >> it is. an underground 30 inch wide transmission pipeline cracks and the gas ignites, surning san bruno into an infern/. and remember that transmission line was blowing out at 350 psi, so it shot a blowtorch almost horizontally into neighborhoods and houses until we shut that gas off, we couldn't stop that blowtorch. >> 6:25, just minutes into the explosion and the fire continues to spread out of control. captain charlie beringer formulates a plan of attack but receives some alarming news. >> at that point pie tail man went to the hydrant and says cap, i've got no water. this event blew out all the water mains in the area.

>> airplanes and helicopters must now hold the line. they release water and fire retashd ants to stop the fire in its tracks. >> the helicopter started dropping in our neighborhood. and being the time of day, we still had a couple hours of daylight left, we were able to get air support, and that was just tremendous amount of help initially until we got our supply lines hooked up to our engines to stop the fire. >> as i turned and looked over my shoulder here was the cavalry coming to help out. >> the air support now allows firefighters to change their plan of attack. >> our concern want so much the initial ground zero area where the source of the fire was coming from. at this point, it's just stopping the progression. fire. so that was our tactic and strategy at that point. >> 7:30, more than an hour after the explosion, the surge of natural gas continues to feed

the fire. crews battle the blaze from both ground and air but are about to face a new problem -- darkness. >> after it got dark, it's a lot harder to fight the fires, because you're not seeing where the smoke is. >> so the firefighters were up against an enormous challenge, dealing with the conditions, the light going away, diminishing and not being able to get close enough to search for people who might have survived. >> 7:45, an hour and a half after the devastating explosion, the gas line feeding the fireball is shut off. by midnight, all that remains is a neighborhood in ruins. >> we weren't worried about it spreading. we were worried about things that we would save that were left. and there wasn't a lot. you know, there was a lot of areas that was nothing but flatland and a chimney or the front steps. it became kind of a moonscape

after a while. >> as i finally went back home, of course all the power's out. so it's very dark. it's kind of eerie and quiet. all you see is just the glowing embers from the fire. so it sort of lit the sky up a little orange. it was a little eerie through the night, and of course i don't think a lot of people slept that night. >> the explosion and fire ultimately take eight lives and destroy 38 homes. yet many believe an even greater tragedy was averted. >> what amazed me in seeing the fireball at the time and that huge explosion, you thought there aid be so many more people who would have died. and i think the only saving grace there is that people were on their way home and they weren't in bed at the time the explosion happened. >> but it is also due to a dedicated group of firefighters who faced the danger head on. >> you just do what you're trained to do and what your experience tells you to do. and i can proudly say that the

first initial engine companies made a stance. we made a decision to stop this fire and not let it go any further. and guys really put themselves in harm's way and held their ground and stopped it. >> that's our job, to make everything whole again, and that's what we're trying to do. coming up, a fireworks stand erupts on the fourth of july. >> i sigh crazy things every day, but that's something i've never seen in my life. >> 18 wheelers out of control. >> fire and rescue personnel are on the scene. no traffic is moving on the interchange. >> an airplane explosion sends passengers screaming to the exits. and more firefighters who put it all on the line. when caught on camera, up in flame, continues.

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a routine car fire exposes

the steady nerves of an l.a. fireman. >> they were getting so close to the car. it was something dangerous for sure. >> august 19, 2011. a parked car bursts into flames on a los angeles street and firefighters quickly respond to the car. >> john hears the commotion outside his apartment and films the action on the street below. >> i went out the balcony to see what's happening. i was just shooting it to see how the firefighters are fighting the fire it might be some interesting memory for me. >> a firefighter grabs the hose and approaches the burning vehicle. he begins to dowse the flames and get the fire under control, but what appears to be a routine job takes a sudden and potentially deadly turn. the front of the car explodes, mere inches away from the

fireman's head. but with nerves of steel, the firefighter doesn't even flinch and continues to put out the fire. >> that was so shocking for me. i mean many people would feel like, okay, just drop the hose and run away. >> department officials credit the firefighter's breathing apparatus as to the main reason this didn't become a tragedy. the firefighter continues as if nothing ever happened. and in less than a minute gets the fire under control. it's believed the blaze started as an electrical fire, with magnesium in the metal steering column possibly responsible for the sudden blast. but one thing is for certain, john will never forget the firefighter who didn't flinch. >> i mean, to see a car on fire,

maybe you can see that, but to see a firefighter in an explosion right next to him and doing nothing, i would never expect to see such a thing, you know. and imagine the damage rs that they're just going through, you know. a team of firefighters faces one of its greatest fears -- a flashover. >> that's the closest i ever want to come to near death experience. >> october 3, 2011, a blaze breaks out at a bistro in franklin, ohio. the firefighter heads into the restaurant to fight what appears to be a kitchen fire. >> initially, when we got inside, the smoke was very light at the moment, but i could see

through it, i could see a glow coming from the kitchen and the area of the bar. >> but conditions take a turn for the worse as firefighters move into the restaurant. the smoke becomes heavier. the temperature around the firefighters rapidly increases. pearson's expertise kicks into high gear. he realizes the firefighters ra in imminent danger. >> the smoke has started to catch on fire. that's when everything's starting to go bad real quick. it's starting to get really bad in that room. i'm just watching these signs before me unfold, and i'm starting to recognize we're about to be caught in a flash t itover. flashovers are a firefighter's worst nightmare and almost always a calling card for certain death. >> something very dangerous to the fire service.

everything in that room, people, furniture, doesn't matter, is going to light. it's going to be on fire at once. >> pearson orders the firefighters to evacuate the building immediately. one makes it outside. but seconds later -- >> go, go, go, go! >> tense moments pass. no one knows if any one still inside is alive. but then pearson and another firefighter crawl out the front door, grateful they've survived. >> and then i finally realized i was at a curb and i was out of building, and i've never been more relieved in my life, because i recognize the dangers of what we were just in. >> miraculously no one is killed in the blast. the fire later ruled an arson consumes the entire restaurant and turns the 100 year old building into ashes. the remains are a stark reminder of just how close the

firefighters came to a tragic end. >> and then to see that room we were just in light up the way it did, was just i can't even describe. >> go, go. coming up, a chancing bridge turns into a colossal fireball. >> a huge amount of flames, it was mind-boggling. >> disaster at a fireworks factory sends hundreds for their lives. >> i'm thinking i'm going to die in this race car. >> when caught on camera, up in flames continues. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal.

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and get 0% apr for 60 months, now until september 3rd. that's the power of german engineering. two trucks collide, and a fireball erupts, deep in the heart of texas. >> i was thinking, it's on fire, i've got to get out. >> every day, trucks, tankers and other commercial vehicles kris kross the nation's highways. they are an important part of our economy, transporting goods

and material around the clock. but if something goes wrong, these big riggs can turn into big disasters. april 8, 2010. a traffic cam captures randy pierce and his 18 wheeler full of frozen chicken entering a busy highway in louisville, texas. he's just about to merge when suddenly, a dump truck cuts into his lane. >> well, i thought, he's going to see me in a minute. so i started moving to the right. he never did see me, because he kept coming across. >> the two trucks crashed into each other and the dump truck explodes, randy loses control of his rig and heads straight for

the highway's concrete divider. >> and it shoved my steering column back into my frame, so that took me back left across the highway. >> the 18 wheeler cuts across four lanes of traffic and breaks through the dividing wall, narrowly avoiding a 40 foot drop to the ground below. randy is left with seconds to make a decision as his cab bursts into flames. >> that's when i thought i've got to get out of here. to the left, my driver's door was on fire. right door i didn't sigh any fire, so i just kicked the door open and jumped. >> nearly engulfed by fire, randy escapes just in time and watches in horror as his truck burns. the fire consumes his entire rig and the cab later slips through the concrete barrier, dangling over the edge. but incredibly, neither randy nor the dump truck driver suffers any injuries in the

crash. it's only after it's all over that randy realizes how close he came to losing his life. >> i saw the video, it kind of brought things back into perspective and realized how lucky i was. actually, i should have been over that bridge or should have burned up in the truck. >> the weight of 40,000 pounds of frozen chicken is most likely what stopped the truck from going over the edge. randy pierce survives his brush with death, but not every driver is quite so lucky. a tanker truck explosion brays a bridge of concrete and steel crashing to the ground. >> this look the like a terrible collapse of this roadway, and as you can see, the fire is still burning. >> july 24, 1998. it's friday afternoon. and interstate 40 is jammed with travelers, racing to get an

early start on the summer weekend. but many drivers don't realize these snake like curves can be difficult to navigate. even deadly. fire and rescue crews race to the scene of a tanker truck that has spun out of control and slammed into a bridge. as they get closer and closer, a thick billowing cloud of black smoke looms ominously on the horizon. >> we've had a lot of wrecks including tractor-trailer and small passenger vehicles. this is one of the most dangerous areas of interstate 40 in north carolina. >> traffic come does a stand still. some motorists even result to driving the wrong way in the emergency lane in order to exit the freeway from an onramp. when firefighters arrive, they are face-to-face with a 50 foot high fireball that has engulfed

the bridge. >> basically the whole underside of the bridge was covered up with flames. in my 30 year career that i've had now, i've never seen anything of that magnitude of flames. >> large plumes could be seen for miles away, 60, 80 feet, overwhelming the bridge and a large area around the bridge. extreme heat, totally unsafe area. and volatile. >> some kind of chemical is burning down there. and you can smil ell it up here the helicopter. fire and rescue personnel are on the scene. no traffic is moving on the interchange. we have no information at this time about injuries or fatalities. >> 8800 gallons of burning gasoline are pounding into the underside of the bridge. firefighters make the decision to wait this one out. >> we knew at that point there

was nothing that we could salvage. there was no way to do any type of rescue and things. so basically, it was just let the fire burn out and contain it to that area around the wreckage. >> but it's not that simple. the bridge is supported by a steel structure encased in reinforcing layers of concrete. and as the fire radiates intense heat, the concrete begins to break down and melt. >> it was splattering, kind of like a grease fire, actually concrete breaking loose and liquefying at a boiling point, which is also dangerous in that area. >> then you just have the steel beams exposed. the unexposed steel beams were taking the brunt of the heat. >> and firefighters are aware that the steel beams holding up the bridge can't take this kind of punishment for long. >> knowing that gasoline burns at about 1870 degrees and the

steel wouldn't support over 1,000 degrees, we did expect the bridge to collapse at some point. >> but the question remains what exactly will happen when the bridge comes down. >> it was unstable because we didn't know how it was going to react. >> firefighters continue to pour water on the inferno in a vain attempt to get the flames under control, but after 40 minutes of relentless heat, the bridge can't support itself any longer. the steel beams come crashing down on the burning tanker and the remaining gasoline underneath. within seconds, a fireball sends flames hundreds of feet into the air. >> well, it was unbelievable to sigh the bridge collapse. probably the largest flames i've ever seen in my life. it was mind-boggling for mika prior to be in that type situation. >> the sheriff's department is recommend ago detour onto highway 70 as an alter nat

route. >> a few minutes after the collapse, the remaining gas lean burns off, and the flames begin to diminish. once the blaze is under control, firefighters can assess the damage in terms of material and lives. >> there was only one fatality, which is the driver of the gas tanker who lost his life. i thought it would be worse. that time of day on friday, july, vacation to the mountains, i figured there would be three, four cars underneath it. >> the interstate remains closed for nearly four days as cleanup crews deal with the rubble and runoff gasoline. ultimately, the bridge is rebuilt and summer traffic resumes, as does the danger found in the twists and turns of this infamous stretch of highway. coming up, a chemical plant is destroyed.

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i'm melissa ray burger. two people are dead after a small plane crashed near downtown kansas city, missouri the pilot reported engine trouble shortly after leaving the airport. and the beaver creek fire is just 9% contained. welcome back to caught on camera, i'm contessa brewer. for many, the day of the fourth of july is a day of fun in the

sun and back yard barbecues topped off by fireworks in the sky. but behind that display lie powerful and dangerous explosives. and when fireworks go wrong, the results can be terrifying. july 4, 2007, port ritchey, florida. a roadside fireworks stand erupts in flames when one of the explosives is set off inside the tent. cameraman bryan pharafai fair r captures the mayhem. >> the fireworks were shooting across the roadway. >> i got concerned for my safety, so i went and parked a little bit further away from where the explosions were going off. and it looked just like a fireworks display you see at a

mall. >> andrea is shopping for sparklers when she notices a man who appears to be drunk holding a bier bottle in the back of the tent. suddenly, she hears the crackle and his of a lit fuse. >> we had heard the ssssssss. and then kaboom! had it gone through the roof, it would have been wonderful, but it didn't go through the roof. it bounced back down off the top of the roof. and it was a domino effect from there. >> the lit fireworks set off a chain reaction. in an instant, a rainbow of explosions fills the tent and the night sky. andrea and her son are caught in the crossfire. >> and, you know, my son, he turns around to sigh where mommy is. and i looked at him. he goes mama, mama. i said run! run as fast as you can.

>> andrea and her son escape before the tent lights up, but the unintended fireworks display is just beginning. >> at one point, the fireworks were going 40, 50 feet in the air. then as the explosions started to get bigger, it started to rip the tent apart. >> firefighters arrive and use water canons to put out the blaze, extinguish being the last batch of exploding fireworks. after 20 minutes, all that's left of the galaxy fireworks stand is a mangled frame. >> i went back to the scene, and when i arrived, there was some smoke lingering. and there was fire cash trirtri still on the table, like everything was for sale that had gone off, and it was all just

burnt cartridges sitting there. >> it turned out that the man who appeared drunk was responsible for the blaze. tony again rogers is convicted of first degree arson and sentenced to three and a half years in prison. $70,000 worth of fireworks go up in smoke. >> the job that i have as a freelance photographer, i see crazy things every day, but that's something i've never seen in my life. >> andrea suffers only my juror injuries. but stray fireworks burn parts of the head and feet of her son. the galaxy fireworks stand is a case study in small fireworks going out of control. but what happens when the fireworks are much bigger? it's a disaster of epic proportions. and one a town in denmark faces

when an explosion rocks the heart of the city. november 3, 2004. it starts in the afternoon when a box of rockets is accidently dropped and ignites. the explosion spreads to nearby containers, and a chain reaction of destruction begins. the afternoon turns to darkness as firefighters attempt to get the situation under control. but it appears there's no end to the pyrotechnics and flames that light up the sky. initial reports indicate the factory may contain 2,000 tons of fireworks. the situation becomes more dire, because the factory is surrounded by residential

neighborhoods. distressed residents are ordered to flee their homes and businesses. almost 2,000 people are removed from a half-mile area around the plant as the eruptions continue only hundreds of feet away. the explosions start to grow more intense as large r caches f fireworks ignite. then suddenly, a massive boom sends a billowing burst of flame and smoke into the air. the shockwave is so vie lint that it knocks back this cameraman. and so powerful that it registers as a magnitude 2 earthquake.

the accident is one of the biggest disasters in modern danish history. one firefighter is killed, and 350 homes and businesses are destroyed. some estimates put the total damage at more than $130 million. coming up. fire blackens the skies of a small texas town. >> the first thing that crossed through my mind is somebody's house is on fire. that's not a house. that's something a lot bigger. >> when caught on camera, up in flames, continues. i'd be sitting there with my friends who had their verizon phones and i'd be sitting there like "mine's still loading!" i couldn't get email. i couldn't stream movies. i couldn't upload any of our music. that's when i decided to switch. now that i'm on verizon, everything moves fast. with verizon, i have that reliability. i'm completely happy with verizon.

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a chemical fire turns day into night. and sends a community searching for cover. >> quite frankly, it looked like we had hell on earth down there. >> october 4, 2011. a fire breaks out 30 miles south of dallas at the mag na blend chemical plant. the blast ignites chemicals and transforms acres of buildings into a sea of flames. >> once it got to the products, typically the mineral oil and petroleum based products, it's going to load off until there's no more fire load. >> fireballs explode while a thick, black blanket of smoke spews hundreds of feet into the air. the morning sky grows so dark, a local resident believes a storm is brewing on the horizon. >> at first i thought is that a

rain cloud? i thought the skies were clear. and i take a second look and i realize, no, it's not a rain cloud at all. >> it's actually huge. it's crazy. this is insane. absolutely enormous clouds. >> and the first thing that pops in your mind is somebody's house is on fire. then you realize, oh, that's not a house. that's something a lot bigger. >> oh, look at that, dude. >> that don't look real. >> no, it don't look real. we're sitting here looking at some crazy -- >> they do not have a full time hazmat team like we have here in dallas. so when we received the mutual aid call, we headed toward what looked like a little hiroshima cloud in the sky here.

>> when we arrived the flames were visible. we don't have the mountains and tries that some of the prettier areas of the world have. but we had a thermo column that was a good 2, 250 into the air. the smoke was black, sometimes gray, which indicates some kind of hydrocarbon or petroleum products. >> rivers of burning liquid chemicals consume everything in their paths. the flames come within feet of railroad cars filled with explosive fuel and more chemicals. if they explode, the dire situation could get even worse. but the flames aren't the only thing the firefighters are worried about. no one knows if the massive plumes of smoke are releasing deadly toxins into the community.

and it's the job of ted and the dallas hazardous materials team to determine the threat. >> our first interest when we arrived was to determine what we could based on ground level runoff and even the airborne particulates. we had three or four tests we did initially. we checked the smoke. our testing, on-site, indicated we had ammonium product, ketone, aldehydes. what you would typically see in any large industrial batching plant. >> while they check for toxins, local officials decide they can't afford to take any chances. hundreds of students from a school only a quarter of a mile away are taken by bus to safe locations. some residents are also ordered to leave, but chris must make the decision on his own. >> i didn't think about, you know, poisonous gases or anything until we came back and turned on the tv because you know, we didn't know it was an

industrial fire. once we knew what it was, we were starting to think maybe we should leave. eventually, we didn't leave, because we knew the smoke was employing away from us. it did make me a little nervous. >> after enduring six hours of punishing heat and flames firefighters almost completely contain the blaze and they release the results that the air quality is not a threat to the community. >> we were there for five, six hours before we cleared. we determined that there was nothing above the threshold value. thayer was nothing above what would be considered a hazard. >> all of the employees escaped without any injuries, but the plant is in ruins. the devastation so complete the story's covered on the national news. >> the fire is still burning tonight, about 30 miles south of

dallas. >> a massive ground cleanup begins immediately after the accident. workers rush to contain contaminated water and other chemical does prevent them from running off into sewers. >> so we contaminated water and other chemical to prevent them from running off into sewers. >> so we turned it over to the private been entity that brought out their back trucks and soil remediation equipment. they'll be there for a good while trying to make this back into an inert, safe area and once again to conduct operations. >> weeks after the fire, the town returns to it daily routine. but this horrific industrial accident won't be easily forgotten. >> now, it's just a bunch of charred remains. and it smells quite bad. i think it's going to take quite a while for them to clean this

up. and it's just an absolute disaster there. i feel a bit bad for the people that lived closer than we do because it reeks. >> coming up -- a day at the races brings one driver to the edge of death. >> if we didn't react with enough time, it was going to turn into a fatality.

a russian plane explodes minutes before takeoff. january 1st, 2011, siberia. an airplane is taxiing for takeoff when suddenly its engine ignites on the runway. fire and thick black smoke fill the back of the cabin and quickly envelope the fuselage. panic ensues as passengers open the aircraft door to escape but within seconds the interior of the plane is on fire. passengers on the ground cry out to others escaping on the emergency slides.

many don't know whether their loved ones are still inside. firefighters pour water on the burning airplane but fail to get the blaze under control. the plane continue to burn for ten minutes until a massive explosion erupts in the midsection and the plane is left to burn itself out. russian officials believe an engine malfunction is the cause of the fire. three people are killed, but the death toll could have been much higher had this tragedy occurred after the airplane had left the ground. a terrible explosion could mean the end of a career for a young race car driver. july 30th, 2009.

it's saturday, and in iowa that means sprint car racing at knoxville raceway. they may look like toys, but don't be fooled. the average sprint car can reach speeds of up to 140 miles per hour. it's a family tradition that mike houseman has carried on for more than eight years. >> sprint cars are probably the most powerful dirt car there is. my dad raced for like 25 years. mainly here in knoxville. my brother races now. my cousin raced, my grandpa raced. so it's a big kind of family deal with us. >> but on this night, the family dynasty almost comes to a tragic end. >> i remember the start of the race, starting up front, i remember running a few laps under green, then battling with another car side by side. he kept getting closer and closer to me. >> the two drivers jockey back and forth for the lead until mike suddenly realizes something the wrong. >> one lap i didn't see him. i just felt a hard impact. the next thing i knew i was in the air. >> trouble.

>> while i was in the air, i could feel my tank had ruptured. i started feeling the fuel dump on me. >> mike's sprint car lands right side up and immediately bursts into flames, but he's trapped in his seat soaking in gasoline as the fire quickly surrounds him. >> i started breathing in pretty heavy amounts of fire. after a while my belts melted so i couldn't get them off. so i'm just thinking i'm probably going to die in this race car. >> raceway firefighters austin kingry and shane spaulding witness the crash directly in front of them. but they must watch helplessly as the flames envelope the car. >> had to pause there and wait for the rest of the field to go by. it seemed like forever that we had to stand there. >> watching this wreck made your heart drop into your chest because you know that both those drivers were in danger. >> you could see the car shaking and hear mike screaming in the car. so i knew if we didn't react with enough time and get there fast enough, that it was going to turn into a fatality. >> the track clears as shane and

austin race across to reach mike. but no one is sure if he's still alive. >> i was behind austin when we were running up to the car. i saw him spray his extinguisher first, so i started spraying. when he got about two or three foot from the car he dropped his extinguisher to go in and help mike because mike obviously hadn't gotten out yet. >> i initially sprayed my extinguisher to knock down the flame so i could get myself in there. as my partner ran around to the back side to push fire away from me. and reached in. he still had his chest belts on. i had to undo his chest belts. we had to get rid of the steering wheel. >> next thing i know some guy's reaching in and grabbinging me and dragging me out. i remember my throat just hurting really bad like i had

drank a bunch of lighter fluid or something. my throat was just on fire. >> mike is taken to the hospital with first and second degree burn on his face and legs. but the cars aren't just physical. mike replay the video of the accident in an attempt to understand what went wrong. >> i just kept rewatching it, rewatching it and rewatching it, just to try to break down what happened, what i could have done different. i mean, you're always going to second guess yourself when something like this happens. >> mike makes a full recovery and, despite his brush with death, is back in the driver's seat only one month after the crash. his return to racing also includes a special thanks to the firefighter who put themselves on the line to save his life. >> then i just told them that, you know, my daughter still has a father because of them and i wanted them to know that. >> there will always be dangers when it come to fire and explosions, but not every incident ends in tragedy. especially when we have firefighters willing to face the

flames head-on. i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." he's a very dangerous person, and he needs to remain detained. >> that's some [ bleep ] man. i swear to god, man. >> i am telling you that that is the option. >> i'm telling you if i go back to that school i'm definitely going to violate my probation. >> what is that supposed to mean? >> he reaches over the seat and pulls out a gun and had it aimed at my chest. it hit me in the arm. >> if two years in placement didn't help you change your ways, i'm not certain any more time here is going t