Hawke’s Bay hero truckie used hoodie to help extinguish car fire on State Highway 5

Hawke's Bay truck driver Dwayne Blake used his trusty Nike hoodie to help put out a car fire on State Highway 5. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Hawke’s Bay truckie is being praised online for his quick thinking to help contain a car fire that could have led to disastrous consequences.

And he “just did it” using his trusty Nike Hoodie.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, around 12.30am, Dwayne Blake was completing his usual Hastings to Taupō haulage on State Highway 5 when he came across a burning car on the side of the road, just out from Rangitāiki.

“I came around a bend and saw the fire there. I parked the truck, got out and called 111 and ran up to the car to check if anybody was in it,” Blake said.

He saw it had no number plates and, in hindsight, thought it could’ve potentially been stolen and dumped.

While Blake manned the phone, other people stopped to try and help, as the fire continued to spread further.

“It was massive. It was getting bigger within a matter of seconds,” he said.

As crews raced to the scene, some of the other stopped motorists tried to extinguish the fire with extinguishers, but they were used up within a matter of seconds.

“We were out of ideas. I looked at them; they looked at me, and we felt dead in the water.”

Dwayne Blake was doing his normal trucking route when he came across the car fire on State Highway 5. Photo / Warren Buckland

That’s when Blake leaped into action himself, taking his hoodie and smashing the flames with it.

“I was thinking about the community,” he said.

“There would be devastating effects if it were to become a larger blaze.”

While some of the other passersby eventually left when the initial car fire had been extinguished, Blake said he stayed until fire crews found the location.

He said the fire eventually reignited, but crews managed to put out the blaze within the hour and he was back on the road by 1.30am, managing to complete his run on time.

“There was a little bit of wind, and the situation had escalated. It could’ve put lives at risk, and there could’ve been property damage,” he said.

“I wanted to do as much as I could to assist in that situation.”

Blake said he was “glad he was able to able to help give people a sense of security” and was humbled by the praise he’d since garnered online after sharing his experience.

He said fire crews at the scene also thanked him for his actions.

“Emotionally, there’s a lot of people that would be relieved because they would’ve had no idea what was going on.”

It was straight back to business for the Hastings hometown hero.

After his night of heroic feats, he was back to work and hauling the next night.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.