Three construction workers braved heat, flames and the danger of explosion to pull Trooper Michael E. Pahira from beneath a burning truck on Wednesday morning.

The trooper, who died without regaining consciousness, had been struck by a tractor trailer as he talked with the driver of a truck he was inspecting along Route 1-81 in Cass Township, Schuylkill County.

The three heroes weren’t identified by name in an affidavit of probable cause released Thursday by Stacey Witalec of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

The affidavit provides these details of the crash.

Trooper Pahira, 44, of the Frackville barracks, was struck and dragged by a tractor-trailer driven by Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Massachusetts at about 7 a.m. as Pahira stood talking to the driver of a truck he had inspected along I-81 southbound near exit 119 in Cass Township.

Bon’s truck was speeding southbound when it veered off the highway and hit the drivers’ side mirror of Pahira’s inspection pickup, which had its emergency lights flashing and was parked behind the truck he was inspecting.

Bon’s truck, loaded with clothing, then slammed into the rear of the parked tractor-trailer and continued on, hitting Pahira, who was trapped beneath its front bumper and dragged as the truck caught fire.

Three construction workers at a nearby project spotted smoke and rushed to the scene.

They saw Pahira under the truck and, despite warnings from Bon, who said he was on the phone with 911 and they should “leave him” and get away from the burning truck because it or the tires might explode, braved the flames and pulled Pahira out from under it.

They dragged him about 30 yards away, and Frackville state troopers, who had just arrived, took over from there.

According to the affidavit, all three men were interviewed within an hour of the crash, two by State Trooper Phillip Dohner and the other by State Trooper Andrew Hubiak, both of the Hamburg barracks.

Trooper Cpl. John Sleboda, a crime supervisor from the Hamburg barracks, interviewed a fourth witness, a truck driver who said he was short distance from the crash when he saw an “explosion and fire and smoke start immediately.”

He pulled over and called 911.

He saw the driver of the striking truck get out of it. The man had a head injury, but tried to pull the trapped Pahira from beneath the front bumper of the truck. He was unable to extricate the trooper, and backed off because of the fire, according to the affidavit.

The witness told Trooper Sleboda the driver “appeared to be a black Haitian male” and that he “had a difficult time understanding him” at the scene, the affidavit states.

He recounted the heroic actions of the construction workers who pulled Pahira from under the burning truck and moved him to safety.

The driver of the truck Trooper Pahira was inspecting, Walter A. Reinoso of Queens, New York, told Cpl. Sleboda he was in the driver’s seat applying the brakes at the request of Trooper Pahira, who was inspecting the brake lines.

Once his own truck was struck, he saw the truck strike Trooper Pahira.

Reinoso’s driver’s side seat broke, and he passed out for a short amount of time. When he regained consciousness and got out of the his truck, he saw the striking tractor-trailer in flames and saw the construction workers pulling Trooper Pahira from under the bumper.

Reinoso gave Cpl. Sleboda the dash camera from his truck. The video showed Trooper Pahira walking in front of Reinoso’s truck and the crash.

Minersville Ambulance took Pahira to Lehigh Valley Hospital East, Pottsville, where he was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m.

Volunteer firefighters arrived to extinguish the burning truck, which had been almost completely destroyed.

The State Police Forensic Service Unit, Frackville, conducted investigations. State Police noted the stretch of Highway where the crash happened is a “straight roadway with no defects or adverse weather conditions.”

They also noted that Reinoso’s truck and Pahira’s inspection pickup were both “parked safely off the travel lanes.”

That meant Bon’s truck “would have had to leave the lane of travel to strike Pahira’s Pennsylvania State Police Patrol Truck, Trooper Pahira and Reinoso’s tractor-trailer,” the affidavit states.

The affidavit was signed by Cpl. Sleboda and Sgt. Matthew J. Klein.

Bon, who has a Massachusetts Class A driver’s license, was charged with homicide by vehicle, in that he “did recklessly or with gross negligence cause the death of another person while engaged in the violation of any law of the Commonwealth or municipal ordinance.”

“To wit, the defendant committed multiple traffic violations including ‘duty of drivers in relation to emergency response areas’, ‘driving on roadways lanes for traffic’, and ‘obedience to traffic control devices’, thereby causing a crash that resulted in the death of Trooper Michael Pahira.”

Troopers also charged Bon with aggravated assault by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person, involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, careless driving - unintentional death, duty of drivers in relation in relation to emergency response area, driving on roadways lanes for traffic - prohibitions against changing lanes, and obedience to traffic control device, for disregarding Pahira’s marked pickup’s flashing emergency lights.

Bon was arraigned before District Judge Christian Lengel of Tremont, and jailed in Schuylkill County prison in lieu of $700,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. July 16 before District Judge Lengel.