By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
A Rooks County Sheriff's officer was on a routine patrol in June. He did not know that day he would be called upon to be someone's hero.
The officer was called to an accident scene on the morning of June 9 on Washington Avenue near the Rooks County Health Center in Plainville.
The officer, who wished to remain anonymous, spotted a fire in the ditch.
Upon further investigation, he found a pickup truck in flames. He grabbed his fire extinguisher out of his cruiser and ran toward the pickup truck. The driver's side of the pickup was closed, so the officer assumed there was someone trapped in the truck.
The officer rushed to the vehicle and tested the door handle to make sure it was not too hot to open. He opened the door to the burning truck.
The officer was able to remove the driver from the burning vehicle and onto the roadway before it filled with flames. During the emergency, the officer was fortunate to receive help from nurses from the nearby hospital who heard screams at the scene and acted quickly to help move them away to safety.
The officer said the driver was stunned by the accident and could not understand what was happening.
The officer said the most challenging aspect of the rescue was getting the victim out of the ditch because of the driver’s inability to process the situation.
“I don’t think he was comprehending what was happening at that time because he wouldn’t let go of the steering wheel so I had to forcefully pull him out of the vehicle,” the officer said.
As the car continued to burn, the officer went back to check if there was a passenger in the pickup. The flames were too intense to get close enough to check the car for a passenger.
The officer said this was difficult emotionally, because as the car continued to burn, he did not know if there was someone else in the vehicle he could not reach.
Fortunately, after the blaze was extinguished, officials found no one else had been in the vehicle.
The driver was released from the hospital later that evening with no major injuries.
The officer was able to make the rescue and neither he nor the nurses who assisted him were injured.
It’s unknown why the vehicle caught fire after the driver went off the roadway.
The officer is a military veteran and said his military training helped him on the day of the accident.
Although the officer saved someone's life that day, he was humble about his actions.
“There’s that fine line between helping somebody and potentially getting yourself hurt and in most situations," he said. "I think anybody is going to put themselves at risk to potentially save somebody else's life.
“To me, it was just a natural reaction. It wasn’t anything I guess you could say was extraordinary. The situation was extraordinary, but the actions I believe would be common reactions to the situation.”