own tv. i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." raging fires, deadly flames, a massive explosion rips through a california community. >> oh, my god. ah! >> highways become infernos. >> this is one of the most dangerous areas of interstate 40. >> firefighters face death in the line of duty. >> the lowestest i have come to a 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. 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 [ bleep ] is that? >> september 9th, 2010, it's just another quiet summer evening in the san francisco suburb of san bruno. then at 6:11 p.m. disaster strikes. this gas station surveillance camera records the edge of a massive explosion. a quarter mile away it 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 [ bleep ] is that? holy [ bleep ]. >> their videos capture the

unthinkable. a terrifying 100 foot tower of flame right in their own backyard. he steps out into the street to investigate. >> i pulled out my camera. the fireballs kept kuhning and coming. just didn't seem like there was any end to it. >> i was just standing there in amazement. it looked like something out of a movie. >> charlie bareinger and ron are among the first firefighters to arrive. there's 30 years of experience between them. this fire is unlike anything they've ever seen. >> i was kind of astounded the number of houses that were actually on fire and burning. the fire was unstoppable at one point.

it was basically a 360 degree fire and we are evacuating the neighborhood. i'm getting snap shots of pretty much every individual running. in 25 years in the fire service i have never seen terror on people's faces like that. firefighters can't get near the flames due to the intense heat which raid ates at temperature near 100 degrees. >> 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 the paint was melting off the car. there was nothing you could do at that point. you couldn't even get within a block of that area. >> at one point the engine company said they saw the asphalt, it was so hot the intensity was so hot that it had lit the oil and 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. 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 they could could have thought would have caused an explosion would have been a jetliner crashing into a neighborhood. >> i was somewhat convinced this is a plane because i've never seen that much fire in my entire 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. >> it looked as if this is not a jet fuel plane. 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. this must not be a plane crash. it this has got to be some sort of a gas leak. >> it is. an underground 30 inch wide transmission pipeline cracks and the gas ignites turning san bruno into an inferno. >> and remember that transmission line was blown out of 350 psi, so it shot a blowtorch almost hor zojdz zojtsly into a neighborhood and houses. until we shut that gas off, we couldn't stop that blowtorch. >> 6:25 p.m. just minutes into the explosion. the fire continues to spread out of control. captain charlie barringer formulates a plan of attack, but receives alarming news. >> at that point my tail man went to the hydrant and looked up at me. he said, cap, we got no water. well, now it dawned on me that

this explosion or this event blew out all the water mains in the area. that whole grid pretty much is out. >> airplanes and helicopters must now hold the line. they release water and flame retardants to stop the fire in its tracks. >> it started dropping on the neighborhood, and due to the fact that we still had a couple of hours of daylight left, we were able to get air support and that was just tremendous amount of help initially until we got our hose lines and our supply lines hooked up to our engines to stop the fire. >> as i turn 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 wasn't 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 of the fire. that was our tactic and strategy

at that point. >> 7:30 p.m., 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 are not seeing where the smoke is. >> the firefighters were up against an enormous challenge dealing with the condition of the light going away, diminishing, and not being able to get close enough to search for people who might have survived. >> 7:45 p.m., 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 could save that were left, and it wasn't a lot. you know, there was a lot of

areas that was nothing but flat land and a chimney or the front steps. it became kind of a moon scape after a while. >> as i finally went back home, of course, all the power is out, so it's very dark. it's kind of erie and quiet. all you see is just the glowing embers from the fire, so it sort of lit the sky up a little bit orange. it was erie through the night, and i don't think a lot of people slept that night. >> the explosion and fire ultimately take eight lives and destroy 38 homes. many blooem believe an even greater tragedy was averted. >> what occurred to me in that huge explosion, you thought there would be so many more people died, and i think the only sag grace was people were still on their way home and they weren't in bed at the time when the explosion happened. >> but credit is also due to a dedicated group of firefighters who faced the danger head on. >> you just do what you are

trained to do, and what your experience tellings you to do, and, you know, 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. that's what we're trying to do. >> coming up, a fireworks stand erupts on the fourth of july. >> i see crazy things every day, but that's something i have never seen. >> 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 flames" continues. making a fist

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a routine carry fire exposes the steady nerves of an l.a. fireman. >> they were getting so close to the car. something dangerous for sure. firefighters quickly respond to the car. john hears the commotion outside his apartment and films the action on the street below. >> i went on the balcony to see what happened. we're just shooting it on see how firefighters extinguish the fire. i thought this might be some interesting memory for me. >> thick, black smoke and flames pour out of the car as a firefighter grabs the hose and approaches the burning vehicle. he begins to douse the flames and get it under control. what appears to be a routine job takes a sudden and potentially

deadly turn. >> the front of the car explodes near 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 shocking. i mean, many people would be like just drop the hose and run away. >> department officials credit the fireman's protective breathing apparatus as the main reason why this event 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 start 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 you and doing nothing, i would never expect to see such a thing. you know? he mentioned the dangers that they're going through, you know? >> a team of firefighters faces one of its greatest fears. a flashover. >> that's as close as i ever want to come to near death experience. >> october 3rd, 2011. a blaze breaks out at a bistro in frankly, ohio. firefighter quincy pearson heads into the smoke-filled restaurant

to fight what appears to be a kitchen fire. >> initially 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 area of the kitchen and also the area of the bar. >> but conditions take a turn for the worse as firefighters move farther into the restaurant. the smoke changes color and becomes dark and heavy as it falls towards the floor. the temperature around the firefighters rapidly increases. pearson's expertise kicks into high gear. he realizes the firefighters are in imminent danger. >> the smoke has started to catch on fire. that's when everything is starting to go bad real quick. starting to get really hot. i'm just watching these signs before me unfold, and i'm starting to recognize we're about to be caught in a flashover. >> flashovers are triggered when extreme heat causes all exposed flammable material to ignite at the same time. pearson says flashovers are a firefighters' worst nightmare

and almost always a calling card for certain death. >> it's something very dangerous to the fire service. it deals with temperatures between 1,000, 1,500 degrees. 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 -- >> oh, my god. >> tense moments pass. no one knows if anyone is still inside is alive. then pearson and another firefighter crawl out the front door grateful they have survived. >> then i finally realized i was at a curve, and i was out of the building, and i have never been more relieved in my life. i recognized 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. >> coming up, a collapsing bridge transforms into a colossal fireball. >> probably the largest flames i've ever seen in my life. it was just mind-boggling. disaster at a fireworks factory sends hundreds of people running for their lives. and a race car driver faces flames head on. >> so i was just thinking, you know, i'm probably going to die in this race car. >> when "caught on camera, up in flames" continues. g air can be difficult. if you have copd, ask your doctor about once-daily anoro ellipta. it helps people with copd breathe better for a full 24hours.

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crisscross 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 rigs 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 lieu wisconsinville, texas. he is just about to merge when suddenly a dump truck cuts into his lane. >> i thought, well, is he going to see me in a minute, so i started moving to the right. well, he didn't ever even see me because he kept coming across. >> the two trucks crash into each other and the dump truck

explodes. >> it shoved my steering tires back into my frame so that took me back to the 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 burst into flames. >> that's when i thought, well, i got to get out of here. to the left. my driver's door was on fire. right door was -- i didn't see any fires so, i just kicked the door open and jumped. >> he 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. 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. i realized how lucky i was. i probably should have gone over that bridge or 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 brings a bridge of concrete and steel crashing to the ground. >> this looks like a terrible collapse of this roadway, and as you can see, the fire is still burning. >> july 24th, 1998.

it's friday afternoon, and interstate 40 is jammed with travellers racing to get an early start on the summer weekend. but many drivers don't realize these snake-like curves near conley springs, north carolina, 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 bill lowing cloud of black smoke looms ominously on the horizon. >> we've had a lot of single vehicle animal and tractor traylor and small passenger vehicles. this is one of the most dangerous areas of interstate 40 in north carolina. >> traffic comes to a stand still. some motorists even resort to driving the wrong way in the emergency lane in order to exit the freeway from an onramp.

when firefighters and first responders arrive, they are face-to-face with a 50 foot high fireball that has engulfed the bridge. >> basically the whole interstate 40, the bridge and things was covered up with flames. in my 30 year career that i've had now, i have never seen anything of that magnitude of flames. >> large mrooums can be seen for miles away. probably initially flames 68 feet overwhelming the bridge and a large area around the bridge. extreme heat. totally unsafe area. volatile. >> some kind of chemical is burning down there. you can smell it up here in the helicopter. no rafk traffic is moving on the interchange. we have no information at this time about injuries or fatalities. >> 8,800 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 unit and things, so basically it was just let the fire burn out and contain it to that area from 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 raid ates intense heat, the concrete begins to break down and melt. >> it was splattering kind of like a grease fire. actually concrete breaking loose and liquifying at a boiling point which is also dangerous in that area. >> then you just have the steel beams exposed. the unexposed steel beams on the bottom side of the bridge were actually 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 goose lean burns at 1870 degrees, and the steel would not support us at 1,000 degrees, we did expect the bridge to collapse at some point in time. >> but the question remains, what exactly will happen when the bridge comes down? >> gasoline tanker to me was very unstable because we didn't know how it was going to react. >> firefighters continue to pour water on the inferno in an attempt to get the flames under control. 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 see the bridge collapse. probably the largest flames i've ever seen in my life. it was just mind-boggling for my career to be in that type of

situation. >> the sherch's department is recommending a detour on to highway 70 as an alternate route. once the blaze surgeoned control, firefighters can assess the damage, in terms of material and lives. >> there's only one fatality, which is a driver of the gas tanker that lost his life. i thought it would be worse. 12:30 in the afternoon on friday, july, vacation to the mountains, i figured they would be three, four cars underneath it. >> the interstate remains lossed 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 four-mile stretch of highway.

coming up, a chemical plant is destroyed. >> we headed towards what looked like a little hiroshima cloud. >> confusion and chaos on an airport runway. and a fourth of july mother and son will never forget. when "caught on camera, up in flames" continues. audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue, with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is you imagination. nissan. innovation that excites. whitestrips compare to a whitening toothpaste? let's see. the paste didn't seem to do much for me. the whitestrips made a huge difference. that's not fair! crest whitestrips work below the enamel surface to whiten 25 times better

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i'm page hopkins with the hour's top stories. president obama today delivered an emotional eulogy honoring former delaware attorney general beau biden. the son of the vice president died of brain cancer a week ago at the age of 46. >> and an nbc crew captured this video a short time ago of former house speaker dennis hastert fishing near his home. believed to be the first time we've seen him in public in which the scandal broke in which he is accused of paying off an unidentified individual to keep a sexual misconduct secret. now back to "caught on camera."

welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. for many the fourth of july is a day of fun in the sun and backyard barbecues capped off by colorful fireworks under the night sky. behind that dazzling display lie powerful and dangerous explosives. when fireworks go wrong, the results can be terrifying. >> july 4th, 2007. fort richie, florida. a roadside fireworks stand erupts in flames when one of the explosives is set off inside the tent. camera man brian farrow captures the mayhem when it unfolds. >> the scene was pretty much chaos at first, and the sheriff's office was trying to stop the traffic because the fireworks was shooting across the roadway and didn't want anybody else to be hit. i got concerned for my safety, so i went and i parked a little

bit further away from where the explosions were going off. it looked just like a fireworks display you see at a mall. >> andrea burkeman is shopping for sparklers with her 5-year-old son when she notices a man who appears to be drunk holding a beer bottle in the back of the tent. suddenly she hears the crackle and his of a lit fuse. >> we had heard the "sssssss," and then boom. 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. andrea burkeman and her son are caught in the crossfire. >> you know, my son turns toornd

see where no, ma'amy is, and i looked at him and he goes mama, mama. i said run. run as fast as you can. andrea and her son escape, but the unintended fireworks display is just beginning. >> at one point the fireworks were going 40, 50 feet up in the air. then as the explosions started to get bigger and started to rip the tent apart. >> firefighters arrive and use water canons to put out the blaze extinguishing 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 cartridges still on the tables like everything was for sale that had gone off, and it was just all burned cartridges sitting there. >> it turned out that the man who appeared drunk was responsible for the blaze. tony glen 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 as a freelance photographer, i see crazy things every day, but that's something i have never seen in my life. >> andrea burkeman suffers only minor 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 the town in denmark faces when explosions rock a fireworks factory in the heart of the city. november 3rd, 2004. it starts in the afternoon when a box of rockets is accidentally 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 piro technics 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 larger cashes of fireworks ignite. suddenly a massive boom sends a bill lowing cloud of smoke and flame hundreds of feet into the air. the shock wave is so violent that it knocks back this cameraman. so powerful that it registered

as a magnitude two 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 pops into my mind is somebody's house is on fire. then you realize, oh, that's not a house. that's something a lot bigger. >> when "caught on camera, up in flames" continues. kaboom...

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a chemical fire turned day into night. and sends a community searching for cover. >> quite frankly it looked like we had hell on earth down there. >> october 4th, 2011. a fire breaks out 30 miles south of dallas at the magnum lend chemical plant in waxahachie, texas. the blaze ignites thousands of gallons of liquid chemicals, and within minutes transforms acres of buildings into a sea of flames. >> once it got to the products, typically the mineral oil and the hydrocarbon petroleum based products that's going to light off and continue until there's no more fire. >> fireballs explode while a thick black blanket of smoke spews hundreds of feet in the air. the morning sky grows so dark local residents believes a storm is brewing on the horizon. >> at first i thought it was like, man, is that a rain cloud? i thought the skies were clear.

i take a second look, and i realize, no, it's not a rain cloud at all. >> it's absolutely huge. it's crazy. >> this is insane. enormous clouds. >> the first thing that pops in your mind is somebody's house is on fire. then you realize, no, that's not a house. that's something a lot bigger. >> oh. look at that. >> local firefighters attempt to get the blaze under control, but their numbers are no match for an inferno of this magnitude. >> they do not have a full-time hazmat team like we have here in dallas. we receive the mutual aid call, we headed towards what looked like a little hiroshima cloud that was in the south here. >> when we arrived, the flames

were literally visible. of course, texas is flat here. we don't have the mountains and trees and some of the prettier areas of the world have, but we had a thermal column that was a good 250 into the air. the smoke was a jet black sometimes gray which indicates some type of hydrocarbon or petroleum products. >> rivers of burning liquid chemicals consume everything in its path. 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. no one knows if the massive plumes of smoke were releasing deadly toxins into the community.

and it's the job of ted paget and the dallas hardus materials team to assess the threat. >> my first interest was to determine what we could based on ground level runoff and even airborne partic lats. we had three or four tests that we did initially. we checked the smoke. our testing on site indicated we had ammonium products, we had ketones, aldehides, what you would typically see in any large industrial batching plant. >> while the team checks for toxins, local officials decide they can't afford to take any chances. hundreds of students are taken by bus to safe locations. some residents are also ordered to leave. chris dillinger must make the decision on his own. >> i didn't think about poisonous gases until we came back and then turned on the tv because, you know, we didn't know it was an industrial fire.

once we knew what it was, we started thinking of maybe we should leave. eventually we didn't leave because we knew the smoke was blowing away from us. it did make me a little bit nervous. >> after enduring six hours of punishing heat and flames, firefighters almost completely contain the blaze. and the hazmat team releases its results. the air quality is not a threat to the community. >> our personnel were there for approximately five, almost six hours before we cleared. we determined there was nothing above. there was nothing involved what would be considered a hazard. >> all the employees escape without any injuries, but the magnum plant is in ruins. the devastation so complete the story is covered on the national news. >> in texas a huge chemical 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 chemicals to prevent them from running off into sewers. >> so we turned it over to the private entities that brought out their back trucks, brought out their soil entities that b 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

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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 is 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 elame so i could get 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, grabbing 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 scars 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."

a motorcyclist drags a deputy across a highway. >> i thought i was going to die that day. >> a suspect attacks an officer behind a desk. >> he reaches for my gun holster. he was going to take my gun and kill me. an ex-con plows a hole through a maximum-security prison wall. >> nobody's ever seen anything like that before. >> "caught on camera," audacious jailbreaks. >> i can't imagine what they were thinking. >> savage beatings. >> they were going to be administering their own form of jail justice. >> and one of the most notorious prison riots in history. >> the thing that was so extraordinary about that day is the rifles didn't stop them.