Neighbor Runs Into Burning Home, Saves Woman In Baldwin

BALDWIN (KDKA)- A Baldwin man noticed smoke coming from his neighbor's home, stopped his truck and ran inside to help.

The fire started around 4:30 p.m. Thursday at a home in the 5200-block of Meadowcrest Road.

Larry Buches was taking his dog back to his daughter's house when he noticed the smoke.

"I put on the brakes, put it in park and ran into the kitchen," said Buches. "Her daughter was coming up the stairs at the same time and we helped Marge get out."

Margaret Bock's son-in-law, Bill Kraus, said that she fell in the kitchen and hit her head while she was cooking. Bock was able to call her daughter, who works in Carrick, for help.

After Bock's daughter and Buches carried her out to safety, Buches decided to put the fire out himself.

"There was a garden hose at the side of the house, so I started squirting that into the kitchen, but the smoke was too much," said Buches. "I went around the back side of the kitchen and broke out a window, put the hose through the window and squirted out the fire. It worked."

Margaret Bock was taken to Jefferson Memorial Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and the injures she suffered in her fall. Her son-in-law says the fire started in the stove, spread up to the microwave and then into the cabinets. Firefighters had to remove half of the roof in the kitchen, and there is heavy smoke damage inside.

"Maybe he saved her life, who knows, you never know," said Kraus. "It's great, it's what neighbors are all about. Looking out for one another, especially the elderly."

"It's pretty cool, it's pretty cool. I've never done anything like that obviously," Buches said. "One firefighter said you're a hero. I said no I ain't."

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