HERRIMAN, Utah — CJ Guadarrama was one of the first people on the scene of a terrifying car crash that then careened into a local business, caught fire, and soon after, caused a massive explosion.
"It was a surreal experience," Guadarrama said in an interview with FOX 13 News, just about 36 hours later.
"So what’s it like to come back here?" Nay asked as CJ approached the group of Herriman businesses, noticeably damaged from the Saturday's incident.
"It’s interesting, definitely. Yeah, it’s weird," Guadarrama said.
CJ, his wife Katie and their 18-month-old Elle live in the apartment complex right across from the group of businesses along 13400 South and 5200 West. He said they were coming home from the Real Salt Lake game late Saturday night when they saw what was happening.
"It was almost like a wall of flames," Guadarrama said. "Katie says, 'Hey, I think that building’s on fire,' and I look over and sure enough there’s flames shooting out the top, and she says, 'You need to go and make sure everyone’s OK.'"
Video below shows fire following explosion (Courtesy: Dave Young)
The 4th-grade teacher jumped into action.
"When we got around the corner to this stoplight, I realized there aren’t any police officers yet and there aren’t any fire engines yet," Guadarrama said. "There’s a white Jeep halfway into the Jimmy John’s and a wall of flame and just people running around."
He said it was chaos initially, as he along with about seven or eight others ran toward the car that was on fire in the Domino's Pizza shop, with Jimmy John's and SuperCuts businesses on either side.
"You could feel the heat. I very vividly remember seeing the steering wheel and the dashboard melting," Guadarrama said.
He said at first, everyone was trying to do something different to help.
"It was difficult. There were a lot of people. Some were shouting, 'We’ve got to move!' Some were shouting, 'We’ve got to wake her up.'"
But when someone yelled that they needed to get the people out of the car and get everyone away from it, they became unified in their efforts.
"We all had to coordinate when to lift and where to go. I don’t think there was a single person there thinking about themselves."
They got the woman moved to the intersection and away from the burning building when first responders arrived. At that point, Guadarrama said, they backed away and let the professionals take over.
Guadarrama didn't want the spotlight. FOX 13 was able to find him and hear about what he did after learning about it through one of his students who had visited the scene with her father the day before.
"I just hope someone would do something like that for me or my family if we were in a similar situation and needed help," Guadarrama said.
"Miracles, honest miracles," Unified Fire Authority Captain Tony Barker said. "The way that it unfolded in nature — a car accident where a car careens off the road, runs into a gas meter, instantly bursts into flames, bystanders jump into action and save those two people in that car — absolutely heroic!"
Barker commended the work of everyone who helped — first responders and civilians alike — saying without Guadarrama and the others who jumped into help, this would have been much worse.
"I can honestly say if those bystanders hadn’t stepped in, we’d be talking about two fatalities," Barker said.
"It was so instinctive for him," Katie Guadarrama said. "He just ran and had no idea when he was going to come back. I had no idea what was happening. He was going. I mean, CJ is amazing. He is CPR certified. He was helpful."
She said she watched in horror as he ran toward the flames and then later witnessed the blast that happened only minutes after he and the others moved to safety.
"It was horrifying. We’re glad everybody got out," she said.
Riverton Police are leading the investigation on the crash that involved three cars and led to the incident. They are looking into a possible medical episode, but couldn't confirm that, saying it was still too early in the investigation to identify the cause.
