QUARTZSITE, Ariz. — A man who saw a deadly crash on I-10 early Sunday morning says he was the first person to try to help.

Tyler Goebel, a truck driver and volunteer firefighter, said he arrived within minutes of the crash near mile marker 52 between Phoenix and Quartzsite.

“My first thought was, oh, this trailer must have caught fire. This driver was probably riding his brakes,” Goebel said. “Our brakes get hot and it can catch the truck on fire.”

Goebel said he initially saw a flipped semi with a fire nearby. He checked on the driver, who was pinned but appeared unharmed. The 9-1-1 dispatcher then asked him to check the fire, and Goebel realized another vehicle was involved.

“As I'm walking over there, I just go, oh my god. It's a van,” he said.

DPS identified the vehicle as a 1967

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