The Hero of the Week is brought to you by Kidde Worry-Free Alarms… Be a safety hero for your family. Begin by replacing outdated smoke alarms. Learn other simple steps at Kidde.com. Kidde – Technology that saves lives. Find out how you can nominate a “Hero of the Week” at the bottom of the page.
Throughout this past year, we’ve highlighted many heroes who extended a helping hand or, in some cases, put their own lives at risk to save others.
There have been so many stories of everyday people and first responders have emerged surrounding those deadly fires in California. One story of a bus driver named Kevin McKay caught our attention.
Kevin’s own family had been evacuated, but he received an emergency call to get his school bus to Ponderosa Elementary. The school is located in the heart of Paradise, California, where the fires were surrounding that area.
Kevin, along with two teachers, helped the last of 22 children get on the bus and then to safety. While fires raged along both sides of road, the bus was trapped in traffic. The kids were having trouble breathing from all the smoke outside the bus. And, Kevin ripped up his undershirt, and he handed it to the teachers to soak the pieces of shirt with water and pass out to the kids to help them breathe.
Kevin was emotional as he spoke of heading out of the area and watching the firefighters run towards it. He said that he didn’t see himself as a hero, but he knew those firefighters were. Kevin did get the children to safety, some 30 miles away. Unfortunately, he lost his own home to the fires as did many of those kids.
To Kevin, to the firefighters and first responders, and to the survivors, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Let’s hope this never happens again. It’s heartbreaking. You can go online and find many ways on how you can help those in need. This effort will be going on for a long time.
You are all recognized as our Kidde Heroes.
For more on the story, check out CNN’s coverage here.
Nominate a Hero of the Week
Now, we want to know who has made a difference in your life. Nominate a local firefighter, police officer, EMT or someone who is serving our country in the military. It could even be a neighbor, family member or friend who lent a crucial helping hand. Let us know all about the person who you feel is a real life hero by emailing us here and please feel free to send us a picture!
