Stratford firefighters Jason Fulks (right) and Curtis Elmore survey a fire damaged SuV that caught on fire Saturday afternoon. As it turned out, the driver and his brother were both wanted on felony warrants out of Garvin County. News Star photo by Susan Stone

By Susan Stone

News Star Reporter

Stratford Fire department responded to a car fire two miles south of Stratford and half a mile back west on Saturday afternoon at around 4:30 p.m. Brothers Dustin Sanders and Kaleb Sanders of Stratford along with two small children were riding in the car when they started to smell smoke. The driver quickly pulled the vehicle over and got the children out then looked under the hood and saw the flames.

When firefighters arrived there was a Chevy Trailblazer fully engulfed in flames. The fire spread from the vehicle to a nearby bar ditch and pasture. Thanks to the quick response of the fire department they were able to contain and put out the fire in the pasture before it spread and got out of hand unfortunately the vehicle was a total loss.

Police Chief Scott Collier and Officer Michael Lewis were on scene and talked to both Dustin and Kaleb. To verify that the information the men had given was correct Officer Lewis checked both through Garvin County dispatch. The brother’s day went completely up in smoke when dispatchers notified Chief Collier and Officer Lewis that both men had outstanding felony warrants for malicious injury to property out of Garvin County.

The children had been picked up by their mother and both brothers were placed under arrest. Garvin County Deputies came over and gave both a free ride to the Garvin County jail since the car the brothers had been driving was now a total loss.