CNN iReport

Two men, Chris Thomas and Shannon Hogan, who risked their lives to pull NW Arkansas resident Mary Irwin out of a burning car on Oct. 13, were honored at the November 24, 2009, meeting of the Rogers (Arkansas) City Council.  Rogers Fire Chief, Tom Jenkins, gave them  the Frank Jacobs Citizen's Award for Heroism.

On October 13, 2009, Mary Irwin went into diabetic shock as she was driving to work around 8:30 A.M.  Her car swerved off the road and crashed into an electric pole and a natural gas main in front of a storage facility on Hudson Road in Rogers, Arkansas.  Instantly, the car, the gas main and the pole all caught fire.  Irwin remained unconcious.

The workers at a neighboring business, General Heating and Air Conditioning, heard the explosion and ran outside to see what had happened.  Corey Smith ran back inside to call 911, while Chris Thomas, Shannon Hogan and Dave Smith ran to the burning car to extricate Irwin, which proved to be more difficult than they thought because the car doors were locked.

After a number of attempts to break the drivers-side window, one of which resulted in Hogan's cracking his elbow, Thomas and Hogan were able to reach through the window, open the door and drag Irwin to safety.

Not 30 seconds after Irwin had been pulled out of her car, the car exploded.

For their unusual heroism, Chris Thomas and Shannon Hogan were honored at the Tuesday night, Nov. 24, 2009 meeting of the Roger City Council meeting at Rogers City Hall.