Jogger Tries To Put Wildfire Out With His Feet

One guy seems to have taken on Mother Nature single-handedly - by trying to put out a sprawling wildfire with his feet.

While an American news crew were out filming over a lightning-caused fire near Scottsdale, Arizona, they came across the man, who was wearing just shorts and trail shoes.

The news anchors can be heard discussing what he was doing, as he could be seen stamping on small sections of fire before seemingly moving on to a new one.

Later on, they managed to track him down - realising he is an ex-professional golfer, who now works in real estate.

Trevor Murphy, who is training for a 100-mile ultra marathon, goes out on the trail every morning to complete his usual 10 or 20 mile run, but when he saw the flames engulfing the McDowell Mountain Regional Park, he had to take action.

As reported by 3 TV, he said: "I'm out on that trail mostly every day.

CBS

"It was kind of working in one direction and I felt like it was already pretty under control.

"I just wanted to make sure it didn't cross the trail and head north towards Tom's Thumb.

"No one was out there and I felt like I could do my part, what little help maybe I did.

"The soles of my shoes are melted [and I have] lots of singed hair."

To add to the fact he could have been burned alive, he also broke his mobile phone and got a parking ticket.

When he was first spotted at the scene, crews commented on how tired he looked - and it's no surprise. Murphy revealed he'd been out there fire-fighting bare handed for about two hours before he was caught on camera.

He added: "I did quite a bit, as much as I could. I like to see some positive news out there so I thought I could give you it."

He believes that by throwing rocks in front of the flames and kicking up mounds of soil, he stopped the fire from spreading by about 150 yards.

CBS

CBS 5 This Morning meteorologist Ian Schwartz pointed out that it's probably not the wisest way to fight fire.

Schwartz said: "I'm just curious about how this ends. I don't think this man is going to perish or anything... I just don't think he's going to get the job done."

He added: "This is not a good idea. It is not going to be very effective and you can get hurt.

"I've never seen that I think in 15 years of doing this."

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward