As Westby Area School Board President Mike Sebion is accustomed to being in the hot seat. But, on April 23rd, Sebion, wasn’t prepared to be burned alive after his 2006 GMC pick-up truck caught fire and burned within minutes of his departure from the smoking vehicle.

Sebion, the owner of Mike’s Feed Supply, was making deliveries to area farmers. He was nearing the end of his route, on West Salem Road, when he noticed smoke coming from the area between the cab and truck bed of the vehicle. Before firefighters could arrive the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames leaving only the charred remains for firefighters to extinguish. Sebion himself had less than a minute to grab a few personal items from the cab before the smoke and fire forced him to stand clear of the burning vehicle.

“There were several explosions and lots of smoke and flames. That baby went up in a mater of seconds. I’ve never saw anything burn like that. I’m just glad I got out in time and that no one was with me in the truck,” Sebion said.

The cause of the fire was undetermined at press time, but a representative of of GMC was expected to arrive in Westby earlier this week to inspect the vehicle which had only 28,000 and was still under factory warranty.