Hero of the week: Good Samaritan saves 98-year-old woman from house fire

 This week's hero comes from Hawaii where he rescued a senior citizen from a house fire. Here's the story. 

(Photo: James Jeff Bruce rescued a 98 year old woman when her home caught fire in Maui. Credit:Hawaii News Now)

Good Samaritan saves 98-year-old woman from house fire

By Chelsea Davis, Hawaii News Now,: Sep. 6, 2025

KAHULUI (HawaiiNewsNow) - A house fire on Maui has left a kupuna homeless.

Though her house is destroyed, the 98-year-old Kahului resident is lucky to be alive. A 71-year-old stranger ran into her burning home and carried her out.

“There was hollering outside, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I thought it was school kids,” said Hana resident Marilyn Bruce.

She and her husband, James “Jeff” Bruce, were visiting her sister in Kahului last Monday when the home in front of the property went up in flames.

The fire broke out around 10:45 a.m. on Holua Drive in Kahului, and two people in their 90s were inside.

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“(I) saw the smoke first and then I looked over and saw the flames when I got it further over and Betty, there was Betty, the older lady, 95-year-old lady, Betty, was the one hollering fire, fire!” Jeff Bruce said.

The 98-year-old woman was still trapped inside, and Bruce picked her up and carried her out of the burning home.

“I ran in there, and Mama Sue was trying to get out on her walker. She was coming out of the room with the walker, and I was trying to get her out, and then as I noticed the flames on the couch was getting higher,” he said. “So I grabbed her and just told her, and she said, ‘Who are you?’ She kept asking me, ‘Who are you? Who are you?’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about who I am. We just got to get out of here real quick.’”

As they were leaving, Bruce said there was a small explosion. “We were going to pass it, and then the fire zipped to the back,” Bruce said. “So then I just kept on going out of there. It was as hot as anything, but I got her out of there in time.” He added that he hovered over her so that she wouldn’t get burned.

The two women in their 90s were unharmed.

Bruce was taken to the hospital with burns to his face.

“I would give up the burns anytime if it was to save someone. That doesn’t bother me,” he said.

He added that he was just doing what came naturally to him, helping others.