This athlete abandoned his training to come face to face with the flames that devastated a trail in Scottsdale, Arizona. His particular feat was recorded on video when a news team arrived at the scene to cover the news of this fire caused by lightning.
They say that the intention is what counts, and the protagonist of this story, of course, has plenty of intention. For hours this man tried to stomp out the fire that devoured the earth on which he runs every day. What is not clear is whether his effort was worth it.
By the time the local media arrived, the runner had been fighting the flames for about two hours. The curious hero is Trevor Murphy, a former golfer who is now preparing for a great marathon of about 100 miles.
With his goal in mind, this man runs 15 to 30 miles a day on this trail in and around McDowell Mountain Regional Park. For this reason, when facing the fire, he did not hesitate to put his grain of sand:
“I just wanted to make sure [the fire] didn’t cross the trail and head north … There was no one there and I felt like I could do my part,” Murphy said.
This act of bravery was not free for the athlete. Although his life was in danger, luckily, there are no human losses, but Murphy has reported that his hair was scorched and the soles of his sneakers melted. Besides, he was left without a mobile phone.
The athlete believes that his action was useful and feels that, had it not been for him, the flames would have burned more ground. It’s certainly a brave act, but meteorologist Ian Schwartz pointed out that stepping on the flames is not a very effective way to quell the fire.
