O'FALLON, Mo — The family of an O'Fallon man would probably be planning a funeral right now, if it wasn't for the bravery of complete strangers.
John Wagner was pumping gas Tuesday night, when he suddenly heard a loud commotion, so he walked over to the far side of the pumps and found a car on fire.
"I came over there and tried to break out the windows," said Wagner. "You could see flames coming up around the hood."
The retired police officer wasn't even sure someone was inside the car but knew he couldn't dare walk away.
"So, I reached in there and at this point I could feel the guy and I’m like, good God there is someone in the car," he said.
Dan Doerr was there just moments after he saw the flames.
"As soon as I saw the fire, I was like the heck with my life, I’m not going to let somebody burn," said Doeer.
Doeer, sporting a cast on his wrist and leg, helped Wagner and an on-duty O'Fallon police officer pull Chris Behan, who was unconscious at the time, out of the inferno.
"We both pulled him out of the car. At that point, I kinda lost my footing. We pulled him out so quickly we all kind of tumbled to the ground," said Wagner.
Not only was Behan’s life at risk, that fire could have killed everyone at the station.
"I later found out we were right on top of the gas tank," he said.
Neither man will call themselves a hero.
"I don’t want any credit, credit goes to God," said Doerr.
Both know, if they had paused, even to think, it might have been too late.
"It’s really a good feeling," said Wagner.
Miraculously, Behan is doing just fine. So well in fact, he and John recently spoke on the phone to set up a time to go get a beer.
