Watch: Scorched Toyota Tacoma survives 14,000-acre California wildfire to drive again
Brandon Sanders, who lost his home to the Eaton Fire, showed his surprise on camera at finding flames had scorched and melted parts of his 2013 Toyota Tacoma pickup, but the truck had survived and remained functional.
The Eaton Fire near Los Angeles left a trail of devastation, consuming homes and vehicles in its path as the blaze charred more than 14,000 acres. The wildfire ignited in early January.
The Tacoma’s exterior plastic was melted and its front bumper reduced to fragments, but the truck’s engine bay remained largely unscathed. Sanders was able to start it up with a newly made key, thanks to a local auto dealer.
“I was surprised to see that the truck was standing at all and not a burned-out wreck,” Sanders told Fox L.A.. “As we got more and more news, we realized that we had probably lost the house, and we were completely heartbroken because we basically took enough stuff to be out for a few days. We lost pretty much everything. We just passed by house after house, completely burned. One house here and there miraculously (was) saved. It was just devastation all the way up to our house.
“And as we got to our house, the amazing thing that we found is that it looked like my truck had mostly survived. The keys we lost in the house, so I went to a Toyota dealership and showed them the title and showed them a picture of the truck. They made me a key for free. I was willing to pay for it, but they made me a key and told me good luck.”
The Fox 11 video above and here was shared via VideoElephant, which provides video content to the Sacramento Bee.
Sanders’ story of his Toyota Tacoma surviving the Eaton Fire went viral on social media. Many comments humorously said Tacomas are fireproof.
