PEA RIDGE — A routine patrol became anything but routine Friday night.

Driving east on Slack Street just west of the four-way stop at 7:38 p.m., police officer Clela Eggebrecht was preparing to back up police Corporal Mitch Brown on a traffic stop at the intersection of Smith Street and Lee Town Road.

As she approached the intersection, she saw a gasoline pump rock back and forth and a small white car facing the pump.

“It looked like it hit it,” Eggebrecht said, of the car. “It rocked.

I thought he bumped it. I went over to see if everybody was okay.

“That’s when I saw the flames coming out of the front of the car,” she said, adding that she immediately used her radio to call Benton County Central Communications for the Fire Department to be dispatched.

Although she dismisses what happened next as just doing her job, Eggebrecht is being credited as a hero.

Three bystanders had rushed to the white Camry to help the occupants - Avis Rigsbee, 82, and her son, Ernest Rigsbee, 61 - out of the car. The driver was resisting assistance.

Eggebrecht rushed in, pulled Rigsbee from behind the steering wheel and propelled him to safety far from the fire and gas pumps.

“He did not want to go,” she said.

“I radioed CENCOM ... you could hear a hissing sound and then it just went off,” she said. “It sounded like it was going to blow up. Then there were more flames. There was a bunch of smoke. It went high - up and out - I don’t know how high it went.”

Meanwhile, Brown heard the radio traffic, and rushed to the scene where he ran inside the store, after being sure the store employees were a safe distance from the fire, and shut off the gasoline pumps, which were on a manual shut-off.

“I ran in and shut off the pumps,” Brown said, adding that he could see the black smoke from where he was about a quarter of a mile east of the intersection.

“The fire was contained to the engine compartment on the vehicle,” Brown said. “When I got within view, she (Eggebrecht) was already helping the people away from the fire, looking out for their safety.”

The “explosions” were apparently the tires “popping” when they were heated by the fire, Brown said.

Several bystanders video-taped the incident with the telephone cameras as well as posted information on Facebook.

Eggebrecht said the 1996 Toyota Camry was not traveling at a high rate of speed, nor did it jump the curb, but just simply turned into the pump when the driver apparently had a seizure and lostcontrol of the vehicle.

Emergency personnel, including off-duty police officers, Benton County Sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and medical personnel, assisted with traffic and crowd control.

Rigsbee, 61, of Mulberry, was cited for driving on a suspended driver’s license.

EZ Mart employees declined to comment, except to say the store would remain open and gas would be available as soon as the pump area is cleaned up and the damaged pump capped off.

News, Pages 1 on 04/06/2011