Watch dramatic rescue of driver from his burning fuel truck on a Colorado highway

The brave actions by three individuals stopped a dramatic Colorado road accident becoming a tragedy when a leaking fuel tanker burst its tyre, smashed into the central barrier, and set alight in a dramatic blaze.

Witnesses of the crash on the northbound I-25 highway from Dry Creek to Interstate 225, near the city of Denver, told the local 9News channel of the "heroic" efforts of the driver to maintain control of his vehicle after his tyre had blown so it did not steer into the path of other traffic.

The fuel tanker scraped along the central barrier of the multi-lane road for around a quarter of a mile before grinding to a halt and quickly becoming engulfed in flames. The injured driver burst out of the vehicle and started rolling on the floor.

At that point, two workers from CDOT, Colorado's highway maintenance organisation, rushed to his aid, one dragging him away from the dangerous vehicle, the other standing in the way of oncoming traffic to slow it down - all of which was caught on camera.

"Pretty fortuitous that two of our maintenance workers just happened to be out on patrol, came upon the crash almost immediately afterwards, and were able to render assistance to the driver who was in a pretty bad state at that point," said CDOT's Executive Director Shailen Bhatt on 9News.

"So we're grateful that they were there and we would say our job is to save lives and make people's lives better, and I think that's a great example of it."