PELHAM, Ga. — A Pelham police officer, who lives in Moultrie, will be recognized next month for heroism that saved the life of a Pelham man.

Pelham Police Sgt. Derrick Pitts was the first officer on the scene of a two-vehicle crash at 12:20 a.m. April 10. A white Ford Taurus was wrecked on the side of Mize Street, and a black Cadillac Deville was off the road with flames coming from the engine compartment.

Pitts said witnesses told him no one was in the white car, but they didn’t know about the Cadillac. He ran up to the burning car and yanked on doors, yelling to get the attention of any occupants.

“The inside was full of smoke,” he recalled. “I couldn’t see nothing.”

The heat from the flames drove him back, and he was about to decide the vehicle was empty when the horn started blowing. The officer returned to the car and yanked on the driver’s door handle again but it wouldn’t open. He tried other doors before he finally got the front passenger door open.

The driver of the Cadillac was lying in the front seat, his feet against the driver’s door and his hands at the passenger’s door. Pitts pulled him out.

Patrolman Earl Gilbert arrived about that time, and the two officers pulled the man farther from the burning car to an area of safety.

The driver of the Cadillac was identified as Tracy Thomas, 47, of Pelham, according to the Georgia State Patrol, which investigated the wreck. He was taken to Archbold Memorial Hospital after the crash, the GSP said.

Pitts said he’s spoken with Thomas since then.

“He’s back at work,” Pitts said. “He was treated for some thermal burns and smoke inhalation.”

The GSP said the Cadillac was driving north on Mize Street when it struck the Taurus, which was parked on the west side of the street. The Taurus then struck a concrete wall with its rear, but the Cadillac caromed off, left the roadway on the east side of the street and struck a tree.

Thomas was charged with driving while license suspended or revoked and failure to maintain lane, and he was charged with driving under the influence, pending the result of a blood test that hasn’t come back yet, the state patrol said.

On May 19, the Pelham City Council and the Pelham Police Department will present Pitts with the Medal of Valor and Gilbert with the Lifesaving Medal, according to posts on the police department’s Facebook page.

Pitts said helping people is the reason he got into law enforcement, and he credited his training with preparing him to deal with the unexpected situation.

“We’re not trained to deal with fires,” he said, “but in the police academy they tried to make it as realistic as possible … so we just react, and that’s what I did.”

Pitts began his law enforcement career as a jailer and later road deputy with the Tift County Sheriff’s Office. He’s also served with the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office and Doerun Police Department. He joined the Pelham Police Department as a sergeant in September.

In addition, he served seven years with the Georgia Army National Guard, which included a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009-10.