Lawrence Fire and Medical Crews work the scene of a house fire at 1507 W. 27th. One person was reported transported to the hospital after passerby Brad Shuck entered the burning house and pulled him from the home.

An elderly man is alive thanks to a local resident’s daring act of bravery after a fire broke out at a south Lawrence home.

“I seen the smoke coming out, and I knew something was wrong,” said Brad Shuck, who risked his life to pull the elderly man to safety.

Shuck was driving about 10 a.m. Monday in the 1500 block of West 27th Street near the intersection of 27th Street and Ousdahl Road when he noticed smoke billowing out of a house.

“I pulled in real quick, ran up, opened the door,” he said. “Luckily, it was unlocked.”

With his cell phone in hand, Shuck dialed 911.

“I was hoping nobody was at home, but when I opened the door : he was there,” Shuck said.

The physically disabled man was on the floor, unable to move.

“The smoke was coming out so thick I couldn’t see a foot in front of me,” Shuck said.

It was also so thick that Shuck could hardly breathe.

“First time I went in, I had to come back out and catch my breath again,” he said.

After he went back inside, he said, he quickly pulled the man to safety.

“Then another gentleman stopped by and helped me,” Shuck said. “And we picked him up and carried him over to the driveway next door.”

Fire Division Chief Eve Tolefree said the fire victim was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical concluded the cause of the fire was accidental and that it caused an estimated $90,000 in damage.

As a crowd of onlookers gathered across the street, Shuck met some very thankful members of the victim’s family.

“I got a phone call from my father-in-law asking if I had heard sirens, and I said, ‘yes,'” said Steve Allen, a relative of the victim. “I just live two blocks over, and he said it was his dad’s house, and I ran over.”

Shuck said his courageous act came naturally.

“It was scary,” he said, “You always wonder what you’ll do. The way I was brought up, you help out people when you can.”