“I told myself to stay calm so everyone else wouldn’t panic.”

On thanksgiving weekend last year, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their expansive three-storey home in Vienna, Virginia, in the US. After dinner, Charlotte, 19; her mother, Darmie, 54; her three-month-old niece, Mirae; and two family friends went down to the finished basement to relax. Charlotte’s father, Eric, 55, holed up in the garage to tinker with his truck, a silver GMC Sierra.

Around 8 p.m., Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She went upstairs and walked through the kitchen, the aroma of turkey and dressing still in the air. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke billowed into the kitchen. She could barely make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He’d removed the front passenger-side tyre and raised the truck on a jack to reach the front brakes. The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the wheel hub was crushing his chest and shoulders.