Garth to the Rescue

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/10/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Garth Brooks earned his white hat this weekend. The country star, 38, and an unnamed man alerted two young brothers in Collinsville, Okla., to a fast-moving grass fire that was heading toward their house. Ryan Cooper, 14, and Randall Cooper, 10, were home alone near Tulsa when a stranger began banging on the door and shouting about a fire, the Associated Press reported. Randall said he told his brother to leave, but Ryan didn't hear him until Brooks yelled up the stairs. "He was yelling, 'Ryan, Ryan!' I was like, 'Who are you?,' and he said, 'Get in the truck,' " the boy told the Tulsa World. Ryan said the country singer drove him through dense smoke to safety -- and that they did not recognize their life-saver . . . until a neighbor told them, "You just got saved by Garth Brooks."