Abandoned Mattress On Tulsa Highway Sparks SUV Fire

NewsOn6.com & Emory Bryan, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A man headed home from Tulsa International Airport early Wednesday morning lost their SUV to a fire thanks to debris on the highway.

Tulsa Police say the Phillip Renner had just returned from a missionary trip to Russia and was southbound on U.S. Highway 169 at 71st Street when another southbound vehicle struck a mattress lying on the highway.

That impact pushed the mattress into the Renner's lane.  He was in his Aunt's SUV. 

"It just came so fast at us, there was no time to react, and we hit the mattress," Trula Roberson, Renner's Aunt, said.

The springs got wrapped up underneath the SUV and they couldn't get it out.

After stopping, Renner tried to pull the mattress free, but then noticed smoke.

"I didn't think it was going to catch on fire, that didn't cross my mind," Roberson said.

"We called some people tried to help us, but the car burned, there it is. It burned. And the whole time I was asking God. I said God my whole life is in there, my passports were in there," Phillip Renner said.

After Tulsa Fire arrived and put out the fire, Renner found his passports unburned.

"It's like God had his hand on these passports. It's a miracle," he said.

Tulsa Fire says the SUV is considered a total loss.

No one was injured in the fire.

Renner is part of a family ministry in Russia with roots here in Tulsa. He was just coming home to visit family for about a month - and he's already got a story to tell about his first few minutes back home.

Check out Phillip's website