MACON, Ga. — People in Macon are calling an off-duty firefighter a hero.
On July 7, Macon Transit bus crashed landed on top of a car in downtown Macon. Macon-Bibb Fire Lieutenant Dennis Maxwell and his wife were managing their boutique shop when his wife heard the crash.
"I was actually in the back of the store, actually cleaning up, doing some cleanup stuff for my wife," Dennis says. "She called me and after she heard the bus crash, so I ran out to see what was going on."
Little did he know, he was in for a shocking surprise.
"I noticed that the bus was on top of the car and sometimes, it could be unstable." Dennis says.
"That's when I looked up under the car and I sensed how the patient was actually trapped in."
Walking down to the scene of the accident, he reflected on how he helped.
"I started pulling that stuff out, and once I seen a a clear path, I just started instructing the two guys on how to actually release themselves out of the seatbelts and how to climb out."
Dennis served under the Macon-Bibb Fire Department for over 20 years.
He knew he wanted to be a firefighter when he was about 6.
"They jumped up and put on their gear and all that good stuff that we do now, and it was so exciting to me that I wet my clothes," Dennis laughs.
Since the crash, Dennis has received countless love from the people of Macon, but Dennis says he's not a hero.
"If I take so much of a responsibility of being a hero when stuff do go right, if stuff goes wrong, then am I part of the blame at that point?" Dennis says.
"I don't want to put that blame on myself. I just want to help when I can."
Maxwell also thanked everyone who helped after the crash and said he hopes those involved are recovering well.