SOUTH WEBER, Utah — It seemed like an average day Friday at Highmark Charter School in South Weber, when something caught the eye of athletic director Clay Jackson as he was putting away field equipment.
“I kind of look over and what I saw was, truthfully, I just see this car going up and down, and then there's like a boom, like an explosion," Jackson recalled. "I see fire go up, and my friend and another teacher at the school, Matt, it's kind of crazy, like he yells my name, and we just kind of both went into action."
First grade teacher Hilary Bingham was in a planning meeting when the lights went out.
“My coworker that was sitting across from me actually noticed the car and said, 'Oh, there's a car that's flipped over.' And so we all turned and looked out, and that's when we saw Clay running across the street,” she said.
A car had crashed into Rocky Mountain Power equipment, sending sparks flying with the person still trapped inside the vehicle.
Clay then ran into the business next door.
“I'm like, 'You got a fire extinguisher?' And the lady in there hands one to me, and as I'm running out, I mean, the funny thing though was I’ve never used a fire extinguisher,” Jackson said, "I just kind of go with instinct. I'm like okay you pull the pin. And I pointed at it and just started kind of hosing down the fire.”
The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and besides being without power, nearby businesses are still standing.
“It was beautiful to witness, because who knows if that would have spread and the car could have caught on fire," Bingham said. "There was building right next to it that could have caught on fire as well. So, I really feel like he saved that man's life."
Bingham added that it’s just the kind of person Clay is.
“I see him out in the hall whenever there's a conflict with a child, and he takes it upon himself to sit down and talk with them,” she shared, “Clay is an incredible leader, and I think he deserves to be recognized for being such an amazing hero, and not just in this incident, but an everyday hero in our school.”
South Weber Fire said Rocky Mountain Power is working to restore power in the area, but for some places, that may take up to 24 hours.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
