Houston legend Lil Troy is thanking God after he escaped a potentially deadly situation this week.
The 55-year-old, real name Troy Birklett, was traveling home from Arkansas on Monday when he noticed smoke coming from under his 18-wheeler’s hood. Birklett, best known for his 1999 hit “Wanna Be A Baller,” said he immediately pulled over on Interstate 10 to assess the situation, and that’s when the truck burst into flames.
“Right before I got ready to exit, I started to see fire, flames coming up from the hood,” Birklett told ABC 13. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, I got to get out of this truck.’ You know what I’m saying? It’s fire! It took them awhile to put the fire out. While they were there, it went ‘Boom’ again! So, I thank God for the fire department. They came and made sure nobody else got injured at the same time.”
Birklett said he purchased the 18-wheeler a couple of years ago for his trucking company, which he launched after stepping away from the hip-hop industry.
“Life after music. Doing something different,” he said about his trucking venture. “My second journey in life. Something different I can do.”
Birklett took to Instagram to share footage of the truck engulfed in flames. He said the incident gave him “the scare of my life,” and thanked God no one was hurt.
“I started thinking about my family and worrying about how they need me. It’s not my time to go right now,” he said, before quoting a line from his hit record. “If you notice, ‘I hit the highway, making money the fly way.’ You know what I’m saying? Truck driving is the new way.”
Birklett told the station he’s prepared to get back on the road as authorities investigate the cause of the fire.
