The father of two said he could not miss the peak fruit shipping season. The crash closed westbound Interstate 90 between Cle Elum and Ellensburg for several hours.
ELLENSBURG, Wash. — A Yakima truck driver is counting his blessings this week after escaping a fiery crash on Interstate 90, but he says losing the truck he spent years saving for is devastating.
Jairo Pedroza was hauling a load of apples from Yakima to Seattle when his semi-truck suffered a flat tire on westbound Interstate 90 between Cle Elum and Ellensburg just after midnight Thursday.
“It happened at midnight, 12:04, and the whole taxi was engulfed,” Pedrosa said. He said he lost control of the truck after a tire burst and when he jumped out of the driver’s seat, fire was burning on the passenger side.
The crash sparked a fire that sent I-90 westbound for several hours as emergency crews worked to extinguish the flames and clear the wreckage.
When Pedrosa returned to the scene during the day Friday, the damage was hard to ignore. Burn marks stretched along the guardrail and thousands of apples were scattered along the embankment next to the highway.
For Pedrosa, the loss is personal.
“Everyone tells me, ‘I’m glad you’re OK,’ and I am too. I’m just glad to be able to see my kids and everything,” he said. “But I thought maybe I’d trade my broken arm for my truck.”
Pedrosa said he and his wife purchased the truck and trailer five years ago after years of saving and sacrifice. The couple hopes this will help them build an independent shipping business.
“We put everything in,” Pedrosa said. “Before we were able to do that, I had to sacrifice time away from my family to work another job. We saved money, and when we saved enough to buy a truck, we got the truck.”
While insurance is expected to cover some of the losses, Pedrosa worries that replacing the trucks will be difficult as equipment costs continue to rise.
Still, he said he can’t sit back and watch one of the busiest times of the year for truckers transporting Washington fruit.
“I really can’t miss this season because it’s our cherry season and it’s just getting started,” he said. “I need to think of something.”
Just one day after the accident, Pedrosa was back driving a rental truck.
He said the hardest part may be explaining the loss to his young daughter, who loves riding in semis and keeping stuffed animals in the cab.
“It was terrible for her,” Pedrosa said. “She had all her stuffed animals in there and all her friends. She left them with me to keep me company while I was outside, but they were all gone.”
Despite losing his truck, Pedrosa said he’s grateful he survived and continues to focus on rebuilding the business he and his wife built over the years. The family has launched a fundraising campaign to help replace the truck.
