RTA bus driver honored for alerting homeowner of house fire while on route

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DAYTON — The Dayton Fire Department (DFD) has honored a Greater Dayton RTA bus driver who promptly alerted a homeowner to their house being on fire while on his route.

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DFD Command Staff recognized Tim Hecker on Thursday for his actions after seeing a house fire on Lakeview Avenue in December.

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RTA shared surveillance video showing Hecker traveling on his route when he noticed fire coming from a home.

News Center 7 spoke to Hecker about his response on Wednesday.

“As I was coming down Lakeview, I saw a fire burning up the side of the house. So, I stopped, ran to the door, and beat on the door until the guy answered,” he said.

Hecker said he woke a man up who was asleep inside the house, despite the flames on his front porch.

As the video shows, he then grabbed a fire extinguisher from his bus and put out the flames.

“I’m just a decent person helping somebody. I don’t think it was a tremendous amount, but it helped him,” Hecker said.

DFD commemorated his quick recognition of the situation, which led to the safety of the residents and minimal damage to the home.

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