SALISBURY — A 20-year-old man who just moved his family back to Rowan County following Hurricane Helene is in intensive care after his truck caught fire following a crash around midnight Sunday, but he was able to talk to his wife Monday afternoon.

Statements from witnesses indicate Caleb Treadway was driving down West Innes Street in the 2800 block when he lost control of his Dodge 1500 truck, crashing into trees. The impact appears to have spun the truck around and it landed in the ditch, catching fire. The truck and the trees were heavily damaged by the fire.

According to N.C. State Highway Patrol, “It appears he crossed the yellow line and went off the left side of the road, over-corrected and ended up going off the other side of the road, striking a culvert.” The truck also hit a grouping of trees just beyond the ditch. The state trooper investigating the crash said he was citing speed as a factor, given how hard the truck hit the trees, and that because he was informed Treadway had gone through the windshield, it was likely he unrestrained by a seatbelt, but added he was not planning to give any citation.

David Hood, who lives near the scene, said he had fallen asleep in his armchair and just after waking up “I heard what sounded like a bomb going off.” He jumped in his car and went toward the sound.

He said the hood was gone from the top of the engine and Treadway was lying partially across the top of the engine and was unconscious when Hood found him. Hood, who says he is not a hero, just “doing what needed to be done,” grabbed Treadway’s arm and belt and pulled him away from the burning truck. Moments later, the fire flared up for some reason, but Hood had moved Treadway to safety, and others who had stopped to help then moved Treadway off the road and into a nearby yard.

Treadway grew up in the Rowan County area but had most recently lived in Michigan where he met his fiance, Molly, 19. The couple have a daughter who is one and a half. The young family had moved back to Salisbury because a close friend had said he could get Treadway a job, according to Molly’s mother, Sarah Lauback.

“He just started his job this past Monday,” she said, and Molly is a stay-at-home mother to their daughter.

One witness at the crash said the red pickup truck and her car were the only cars on the road at the time, and the truck passed her before losing control. The female driver said the truck landed in the ditch and burst into flames. She said she thought the truck was speeding when it passed her.

She immediately called 911. She struggled, she said, to process what had just happened in describing it to the dispatcher, but she did her best to explain it.

That same witness said other drivers had stopped to help and she saw Hood pull Caleb from the window of the truck, though she did not know who he was.

Firefighters had to work to put the fire out. They called for a tanker to bring more water when the fire flared up. At one point, a neighbor said she saw what appeared to be a small explosion just before the fire flared up again.

Firefighters and EMS arrived and called for a medical helicopter, confirming that Treadway was a flight candidate. Air Care One landed on the soccer field at North Hills School to take Treadway to Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

Another witness, Kaiden Porter, said he was walking back from Catawba College when he “heard a loud car revving sound, then a crash and a pop, like a firework. I rushed over to the accident and there were five other people already there helping. Three of them pulled the unconscious man out of the car.” He said he heard a dog crying but knew the dog did not survive. Hood said the dog was behind the truck but was too hot for him to touch, so he rolled it in a blanket and moved it a safe distance from the truck, and Animal Control later took the body. A second dog ran from the scene after the crash but was back home safe and sound Sunday.

Lauback said the couple were so new that they haven’t yet found an apartment, and were just making ends meet, having used their savings to make the move. They were “very resilient,” but right now, her daughter is distraught, because “she leaned on Caleb.” The couple has no family in the area.

“Molly doesn’t have a job, and now they have no vehicle, and because he just started working they had no medical insurance,” Lauback said. “If he recovers, and right now we believe he will, it’s going to be a long time before he can go back to work.” She has started a GoFundMe for the family to help meet immediate needs while they figure out the next step.

“Molly told me he had gone out to get something for the baby, and minutes after he left, she looked at the clock and saw it was midnight and realized there probably was no store open,” said Lauback. “She thought about calling him but then decided maybe he would find something.” She said her daughter “had a sick feeling. They live just up from where it happened, and the fire station is right there. When she heard the sirens go off, she checked his location on her phone and saw it was not changing and knew something was wrong.”

The Lauback family has suffered its share of losses in the past four years. Their home in Michigan burned down and another young family member passed away unexpectedly.

“I was talking with my own mom and I said we just need a break,” Lauback said. But she is convinced “God was watching out for Caleb, because this could have been so much worse.” He is not completely out of the woods yet, though doctors are optimistic. Lauback said Sunday he had been intubated, had numerous contusions, broken bones, cuts and a brain bleed. But Monday afternoon, Molly was on her way to see her husband and said she had spoken to him, which was what she needed — “I just wanted to hear his voice” — and she is hoping to bring him home soon.

Lauback, who is a nurse, said Treadway “is an amazing dad. He is one of a kind, loves to restore mechanical things in his spare time, and he and Molly are both very into nature. But his daughter is his baby girl, and she loves her dad.” She hopes that Molly and their daughter will help give Treadway the determination to heal.

Anyone who wishes to donate to help sustain this young family as they figure out how to move forward can find the GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/0355237f

“When we lost our house, I was incredibly comforted by the way people came forward to help,” said Lauback. “I have spent my whole life caring for other people (she was a director of nursing during COVID) but never thought about needing help myself. When we needed it, though, people were there. I hope they will be for my daughter’s family, too.”