HOUSTON – A man living in a small mobile home in The Heights area has a Metro bus driver to thank for saving his life.
Metro bus driver Paul Nelson helped the man get away from a fire that gutted his home.
The fire was reported just before 9 a.m. at a home at 612 W. 19th Street.
Neighbors said the fire erupted suddenly in a small mobile home behind a residence.
Thankfully Nelson was passing by and saw it. He said a woman approached him while driving the bus and claimed a man was trapped. Authorities said he sprang into action to help the man escape the burning home.
"I saw a lady hollering for help," Nelson said during a Friday news conference. "I saw this gentleman standing out of the house, he might have fell, because he cut above his head. I picked him up and brought him to a tree. I went back to see if anyone else was inside, and that's what's up."
Both went to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds, authorities said.
A woman who lives near the mobile home said she and her family were asleep and did not hear a thing until the victim started pounding on their door.
"He knocked two times. He knocked really hard," said Janna Pineda, a neighbor.
She said the victim had a bump on his head and burns on his stomach area. She said the situation is made sadder by the fact the man's mother recently died.
Officials say the victim remains at Memorial Hermann Hospital and has burns on 50 percent of his body. Nelson had burns on his hands and neck and says he wouldn't hesitate to help again.
"I just did what I think everyone else would do -- or should do -- that's it."
Nelson says he's not a hero, but Metro and the fire department think he is. Officials from both departments are planning ceremonies to honor him.
