The white pickup on the side of the highway was already on fire when Cameron spotted it.
He was driving his Hummer H1 along Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, stuck in the slow lane as usual, when he saw brake lights ahead.
Then he saw a Toyota Tacoma pulled over near an exit ramp.
"A girl and a guy were running back and forth, frantically getting their stuff out," Cameron said. "Then I saw smoke pouring out from under the hood."
Cameron pulled over immediately.
He's no stranger to vehicle fires. In fact, this was the third time he had stopped to help put out someone else's car fire.
His family and friends are all into cars, and Cameron has spent years taking his Dodge Viper to track days and building a classic Mini into a race car.
"As soon as you start modifying a car or pushing it to its limits, you better have good brakes and a fire extinguisher," Cameron said. "It's a given."
That's why he keeps H3R Performance extinguishers in all of his vehicles.
His Hummer is set up for off-road camping, with both a clean agent extinguisher mounted up front and a MaxOut dry chemical extinguisher in the back. The clean agent is there for situations where residue matters. The MaxOut is there for engine-bay fires, roadside emergencies, and other situations where he may need broad, hard-hitting coverage.
When he saw the Tacoma burning, he grabbed the MaxOut.
"They were in pure panic mode. They had no extinguisher, nothing. They were just trying to grab their stuff," Cameron said. "I told the guy to pop the hood, so I can spray under it, then get everybody to safety and call the fire department."
The driver released the hood. Flames poured out through the gap.
"You could tell it was an electrical fire. You could just smell it," Cameron said. "I pulled the pin on the MaxOut and started spraying near the battery."
Cameron unloaded a couple of strong bursts under the hood.
"It was basically out with the first burst," he said. "But I saw a little bit more smoke coming out, so I just gave it the rest of the extinguisher. I figured it was worth it to save the guy's truck. And it did."
The fire department arrived about 10 minutes later. In Los Angeles freeway traffic, that was relatively fast.
But in a vehicle fire, 10 minutes can feel like an eternity.
By the time firefighters arrived, the fire was already out. They stayed to make sure the Tacoma was safe, but the MaxOut had already done the work.
Without it, Cameron believes the vehicle would have been destroyed.
"That truck would have burned to the ground by the time they got there," he said. "The way it was going up, there would have been nothing left but charred earth."
The whole thing was caught on video from two angles: the truck owner's frantic cell phone footage and the calm, steady view from Cameron's dash cam. Watch both on our Facebook and Instagram to see exactly how fast it unfolded.
Later, the Tacoma's owner messaged Cameron to thank him for saving the truck, which had been towed to a shop for repairs.
But one detail stuck with Cameron. Nobody else stopped to help.
"They were super thankful," he said. "They told me they had tried to wave people down, but I was the only one who stopped."
Cameron doesn't think that was because other drivers didn't care. He thinks most people simply had no way to help.
"Frankly, I don't think many people even have an extinguisher in their car," he said.
Every time Cameron has stopped to help, he has seen the same thing: someone standing helplessly near a burning vehicle, with no extinguisher and no way to put out the fire.
"They're stuck there watching their car, whether they love it or it's just transportation, watching it burn," he said. "There's nothing they can do about it."
That's the moment Cameron wants other drivers to think about before it happens.
Because when smoke is coming from under the hood, it's too late to decide you should have bought a fire extinguisher.
"You don't realize you need it until you need it," he said. "And by then it's too late."
Cameron said he did not know about H3R Performance's Emergency Replacement Guarantee until after the fire.
"I just figured it was worth the cost of the extinguisher to save somebody else's $50,000 car," he said. "I would hope somebody else would do the same for me."
Now that he knows H3R will replace an extinguisher used in a qualifying emergency, he feels even more confident about using it when needed.
"We should all look out for each other," Cameron said. "If that means me using my fire extinguisher, well, now I'm even happier to look out for other people if I know that I can get it replaced for free."
"The number of times I've put out somebody else's fire proves that you should just have a fire extinguisher. When you need it, you'll be thankful to have it, instead of standing there watching your car burn."
— Cameron Webster
Be Ready When Every Second Counts
H3R Performance extinguishers are built with durable all-metal construction and secure mounting options for street, track, off-road, and daily driver use.
If you need to use your H3R extinguisher in a real fire emergency, our Emergency Replacement Guarantee helps keep you protected.
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