By Augie Frost
The Oklahoman
Copyright 2007 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Lauren and Lindsey Penn panicked Tuesday as their Mercedes-Benz sedan filled with water in northwest Oklahoma City.

A second try to start the stalled car failed as rushing water pummeled the passenger side, Lindsey said.

An hour later, firefighters used a boat to pluck the 16-year-old twins from the raging waters on the low-water crossing spanning two small Ski Island lakes near MacArthur Avenue and Hefner Road.

"We were panicking. We were freaking out," Lindsey said. "We were really scared."

Water too high Lindsey said her sister was driving about noon when they tried to cross the bridge. They had just dropped off a friend.

The car stalled about halfway across a spillway between the two lakes.

"We didn't know how much water there was," Lindsey said. "The car just stopped as we tried to cross."

Lauren opened the car door to let some of the water out. Several firefighters yelled from the shore, "Close the door! Close the door!"

A slight roar could be heard as the rushing water spilled into the lower lake. Rain pounded the already saturated ground.

Both wheels of the passenger side were submerged, the white water pushing up at times nearly to the windows.

The girls could be seen wiping fog from the car windows while waiting to be rescued.

The rescue A horde of firefighters scrambled to put an inflatable boat into the water, with Cpl. Brent Koeninger the sole rescuer aboard. Four ropes were tied to each corner of the craft and held by a group of firefighters on shore.

Koeninger said later it was the wildest rescue he ever made.

Onlookers gathered with cameras and curious faces. The girls' father, David Penn, waited on the west side of the water crossing; their mother, Janice Penn, on the east side.

David Penn had been talking to the girls using a cell phone throughout the ordeal, he said.

"Whenever I talked to them on the phone, they were pretty shaken," he said.

About 1:15 p.m., Koeninger reached the car and broke out the passenger side rear window. He handed Lindsey a life-jacket before she crawled out the window and into the boat.

Firefighters reeled the boat to shore and, within moments, Lindsey was in her father's arms.

Koeninger returned to rescue Lauren. Moments later, she also was standing with her father and sister on shore.

"Relief," David Penn said he felt as he hugged his daughters. "Big, big, big, big, relief. You know, these are my babies."

Lindsey said the first thing she said to her father was, "I'm sorry!" The girls were sharing the car, which they had only recently been given by their father.

As for whether they will be driving any time soon, Lindsey said, "I don't think so."