Slick driving conditions are what caused a semi-truck to dive over a bridge in Manatee County and plunge into the water.

Luckily a Good Samaritan saw the whole thing and came to the driver's rescue.

“It was a big explosion. A big old black cloud went up in the air,” said Ellenton resident Robby Smith.

Smith was hanging out with friends Saturday night when he witnessed a truck drive over the Jeff Young Bridge, catch fire and plunge into the water below.

“We just jumped on a boat and got out here as fast as we could,” he said.

The truck was crushed, sinking and leaking diesel fluid. Smith feared the worst.

“Everything was going through my mind like this is going to be bad right here,” he said.

Luckily, the driver, later identified as 29-year-old Timothy Dale of New Jersey, was alive.

“We were like ‘hey, is anybody in there?’ And he was like, ‘yeah, I’m OK.”

Smith pulled the boat he was driving right up to the truck and was able to get the driver out right in time. The water level was rising and the driver couldn’t swim.

“The whole time on the way back in the boat he was like 'Oh, thank you man! I’m so glad to see Y’all,” he said.

The driver only suffered minor injuries.

The truck’s cab is completely crushed and the entire vehicle remains submerged in the Manatee River.

Florida Highway Patrol says alcohol did not play a factor in the crash.