Jenks officers, plus Jenks Campus officers, recognized after wheelchair-bound resident rescued from burning van

Mayor Corey Box and city staff formally recognized Jenks Police Department officers and officers from the Jenks Campus Police for rescuing a wheelchair-bound man from a burning handicap-accessible van at Grace Living Center on June 3, 2025.

According to the mayor’s remarks, dispatch received the call at 1:10 a.m.; Jenks Campus Police Chief Stone and officers Munger and Simpson were first on scene and advised a male occupant in the back of the van could not get out. Jenks officers on scene included Lieutenant Simmons, Sergeant Goode, MPO Galloway, MPO Pierce, Officer Foster, Officer Zumwalt, Officer-in-Training Ward and Lieutenant Golladay.

Officers used fire extinguishers to contain flames while others broke a side window and freed the occupant, who was wheelchair-bound and could not use the van’s rear gate release. “That man is, I believe, alive today because of the actions you all took,” Mayor Box said as he recognized the responders. The mayor said the incident drew international attention and said he was proud of the teams’ “brave and quick actions.”

The city presented awards to the officers for performing under hazardous conditions; staff described the award as recognizing “a highly unusual accomplishment under adverse or hazardous conditions involving some degree of risk to their own life and or physical well‑being,” and said the action directly prevented serious injury or death.

The council and mayor also acknowledged the Fire Department’s role in extinguishing the blaze once on scene. No formal policy action or vote accompanied the recognition; it was a ceremonial acknowledgment of the lifesaving response.