Tulsa Police Rescue Passengers Injured In Fiery Car Crash

Dee Duren and Gary Kruse, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma - Passersby and police helped rescue five people from a burning car following an overnight Tulsa wreck. It happened at about 12 a.m. at 26th and Harvard.

Police say an Infiniti sedan was southbound on Harvard when it struck a curb then slammed into a traffic signal pole. The badly damaged car caught fire.

Officer Clay Hicks was on patrol and saw the Infinity and the downed pole.

Passersby had already helped four people out, but one person was still inside the burning car.

"I saw a male in the rear seat. At that time, he was laying down," Hicks said. "I went to the passenger side of the vehicle - the door was locked."

Hicks went to the driver's side and used the electric door lock to unlock the car.

"I was able to pull the passenger door open and pull him from out of the car, out of the back seat," he said.

Hicks was joined by other officers who pulled the five injured people - four men and one woman - from beneath the live power line, just before the pole shifted and the lines fell onto the pavement where the people had been lying, a Tulsa Police sergeant said.

The sergeant said he planned to nominate Hicks for a life-saving award. Hicks said it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

All five occupants of the car were injured and taken to local hospitals. One, a 21-year-old male, had serious injuries to his legs. The other passengers, a 21-year-old woman, and three teenage males ages 17, 18 and 19, were taken to the hospital in fair condition, according to EMSA Director of Communications Kelli Bruer.

Watch the video above for Brian Anderson's shots of the burning car. If you're reading this on our app, check out the online site to watch.