‘Everybody needs a Buck in their life’ | Good Samaritan helps pull elderly man from burning home

By Valerie Lyons

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    AURORA, Indiana (WCPO) — Buck Bradley doesn’t see himself as a hero. He doesn’t think his actions Monday night were anything special. But one thing is irrefutable: the former firefighter was in the right place at the right time.

Following a 15-year career with the Aurora Fire Department, Bradley now divides his time between employment at Texas Gas Pipeline and construction and repair jobs across town.

He even helped his friends renovate their bar, Whitelock’s Tavern, on Conwell Street. He built the main sign, too, and helped install it last year.

“Buck is a wonderful person. Buck is someone who’s lived in this community all his life,” said Jeanne Akeman, whose family owns the bar. “He has been phenomenal with helping get this bar up and running. Very quiet. He runs deep, I guess, would be the best thing. He would do anything for you.”

He would even run up to a burning building to help a stranger in trouble, which is precisely what he did Monday night.

Bradley was replacing a window at the restaurant at around 8 p.m. when he noticed smoke coming from the basement of the home directly behind the property. The 77-year-old downstairs tenant was trapped inside.

“(He) didn’t think anything about running up there to help kick the door,” Akeman said. “I didn’t even know he was here. I didn’t know the window was going in. So, for him to be here was maybe divine intervention.”

Bradley was working a job in Versailles Tuesday, so he couldn’t recount the rescue in person, but we were able to speak with him over the phone. He said he wasn’t the only person in the right place at the right time. An Aurora police officer also happened to be driving by.

“You hear that someone’s trapped in there. You want to try and do everything you can to try and help, you know. Once (the officer) got up there, he asked the guy if he could move from the door and then he tried to knock the door in, but he was right behind the door,” Bradley said.

The elderly man had collapsed, preventing Bradley and the officer from opening the door wide enough to gain access. But they didn’t have to wait long for more help to arrive.

“A couple of paramedics showed up,” Bradley said. “They were smaller guys, and they were able to grab a hold of him, but then we grabbed a hold of them and kinda pulled them as they were pulling him and got the guy out into the yard.”

Fire trucks arrived shortly after. Crews were able to make entry into the apartment and extinguish the flames in the apartment, Aurora fire chief Jeffrey Allen Lane said in a release. The 77-year-old man was flown to University of Cincinnati Hospital by University Air Care for burns to the arms and smoke inhalation.

Authorities did not identify the man. We asked neighbors if they knew who he was, but no one was able to recall a name. One neighbor described him as quiet but friendly.

Bradley said he’s never spoken to the man before Monday.

“He was breathing and talking. It was a good thing,” Bradley said.

If he or the police officer had shown up even a minute or two later, the night could have ended very differently, Bradley said.

“Yeah, it was pretty heavy smoke. It was really thick, and we were all coughing pretty good on it. It was rolling out pretty good,” Bradley said.

Neighbors told us emergency vehicles filled the street as crews responded to the fire. The Dearborn County Communication Center, Aurora EMS, Lawrenceburg FD, Greendale FD, Hogan FD, Rising Sun FD and Lawrenceburg EMS assisted Aurora FD, Lane said. Manchester Fire also staged on State Route 148 to cover any further calls in the area.

We saw fire marshals at the house Tuesday afternoon. The fire is still under investigation.

“(Buck) should be recognized,” said Akeman. “Everybody needs a Buck in their life. Everyone needs someone who is that quiet person that doesn’t need the recognition but does go out of his way to help others, whatever it is. Everybody needs a Buck.”

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