Shawn Melvin was driving with his son when they passed the truck, and the boy recorded from the backseat.
New video of the smoldering garbage truck that authorities believe sparked last week's deadly California fire has emerged, and it was filmed by an 8-year-old boy.
Shawn Melvin told Inside Edition he was driving with his son when he saw the garbage truck with the smoldering trash, known in the carting business as a "hot load."
"There was actually flames coming up where the trash goes down," Melvin said. "I honest to God didn't think it was going to go as far as it did."
Melvin said what was crossing his mind was that the truck was "going to catch this place on fire.” He added, “I was amazed that he was even still driving. I passed him a couple of times. You can’t stay anywhere but here and it is all brush.”
The homes in Calimesa, California, are charred and burned down after they went up in flames. The fire destroyed more than 70 structures and killed at least two people.
The great-great-grandmother who lost her life was on the phone with her worried family, saying she was about to flee, when the line went dead. Her body was found later by firefighters.
Inside Edition spoke to the grieving family of 89-year-old Lois Arvickson.
She sounded extremely scared on the phone, a relative told Inside Edition. The family said she didn’t know for sure how far the flames were from her house because of the smoke.
“At the very last [minute] she said it was on fire,” a relative said.
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