Okmulgee Sheriff's deputies commend heroic men

The Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office is calling two men heroes after they pulled a man from a burning car on July 5th.

Deputies say a 911 call came in around 10:30 on the 5th for a single car crash on Highway 16 between 320 and 330 roads. The caller said the car was off the road and had caught fire.

Sheriff’s deputies, Twin Hills Fire Department, Okmulgee County EMS, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol were dispatched to the scene.

Deputies arrived to the scene first and talked to Benjamin Franklin Lane, who witnessed the crash. Lane told deputies he and another man approached the car after the crash and found the driver inside and his feet on fire. Officials say Lane told them they forced the door open and pulled the man from the car.

The men moved the driver further away from the car when the fire spread to nearby grass. Emergency officials arrived shortly after that and gave medical attention to the driver.

Lane told deputies the man that helped him left the scene quickly after the driver was safe. Another bystander described the man as an American Indian man.

Sheriff Eddy Rice, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office and the Twin Hills Fire Department commend Mr. Lane and his unknown co-hero for their actions saying if they had not acted quickly the man in the car could have died.