ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Tony Doughty, from Greenville, Texas, a TCA Highway Angel for stopping and using his truck to block an accident scene in Ohio and extinguishing a large fire on the side of a highway in Louisiana a few days later.
Doughty drives for Woody Bogler Trucking out of Gerald, Missouri.
Doughty’s story began at 11 a.m. on Nov. 8, while driving on Interstate 280 near Toledo, Ohio, according to the TCA.
A single vehicle accident occurred when a red Lincoln SUV hit a Jersey barrier and spun 360 degrees into the I-280 southbound entrance ramp.
“It happened right in front of me,” Doughty said. “He lost control on that curve and was in the middle of the highway, totally disabled.”
Doughty, a volunteer firefighter, pulled over and blocked the left lane to prevent any more accidents. His wife, Alison, dialed 911 to alert fire and police personnel.
Doughty helped get the driver, who had non-life threatening injuries, out of his vehicle. Once the Toledo Fire Department arrived, Doughty continued to block traffic to assist the emergency personnel until the accident scene was cleared.
“Me being a volunteer firefighter — if I can stop to render aid, I will stop to render aid. It was just in my nature to stop and see if he’s ok,” Doughty said about the crash victim.
Doughty’s second angel-worthy event happened a few days later on Nov. 12, according to the TCA.
He was driving through Albany, Louisiana along Interstate 12.
It was around 2 10 a.m. when traffic began to slow and Doughty spotted a grass fire on the side of the highway. It was getting dangerously close to several homes, and Doughty said he knew he had to act quickly.
A police officer was on the scene, but had no way to fight the fire, which spread between a half-acre and an acre.
“I told the cop: ‘I’m a volunteer firefighter; I know how to handle a grass fire,’” Doughty said. “When I showed up the fire was raging, so I just jumped out and went to work. I grabbed my fire extinguisher, and I grabbed my leaf blower and had the fire 95% put out before the fire department showed up.”
Asked why he made such a magnanimous effort, Doughty humbly replied, “I could’ve just drove on, but I can’t do that — that’s not me. I was just doing what I’m trained to do.”
Since the TCA Highway Angels program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels. Each displayed “exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage … while on the job, a news release stated. “Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsor, DriverFacts, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Mr. Doughty.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
