Fife, WA : Pierce County man killed in hit by vehicle rollover crash on I-90 Wednesday December 2 2015
Friends of a Pierce County man killed on I-90 say they're not surprised he was trying to be a Good Samaritan.
Mike Raugi was hit by vehicle as he was trying to help at the scene of a rollover.
Ironworkers are known as tough guys doing hard work, but friends and co-workers at Gerdau Reinforcing Steel West say Raugi had a soft side and that was evident when he stopped to help an accident scene in Eastern Washington Wednesday.
What happened was there was a rollover and he stopped to help somebody," said friend Stephanie Hedberg. "And that's when you just knew it was him because he would stop and help anybody."
It happened along I-90, two miles east of Kittitas at 5 p.m. The Washington State Patrol said it was dark and stormy, and there had been several collisions.
Raugi was returning home to Fife from an ironworking job in Spokane when he pulled over and walked back to help the trapped people in the accident. Troopers say Raugi was hit by another car that also lost control.
I've known Mike for a long time. It was very devastating to get the word," said Pat Nation, who had been working with Raugi for 15 years. "The job is hard, the job is tough. That's what we do every day and he would always make jokes while we were trying."
Raugi has worked on the some of the big projects you see in our area, including the I-90 pontoons.
He loved being an ironworker," Hedberg said. "And that was his life and the only thing he loved more than an ironworker was his three kids. His pride and joy were his two girls and his son."
A GoFundMe account
has been set up as a memorial fund for his family.
His friends are stunned by the news of his death and not all surprised he died trying to something good for somebody else.
He was a very generous, very kind man," said Kimberly Lake. "He was there for everybody. If anybody needed anything he would the first guy you would count on."
Friend and co-worker Brandon Lake agreed: "Our house is going to be empty now that he's gone. He was just a good man
Source:
Good Samaritan killed trying to help at crash scene