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Heroes

Off duty school bus driver rushes into burning house to save 'his kids' on his bus route

The kids weren't home but he rescued their dogs.

Photo credit: Canva

Off duty school bus driver runs into burning house on his route

When you work with kids, they often feel like your own. You're entrusted to care for them and protect them just as you would your own children. This protection factor doesn't end once the kids leave your classroom or step off of your bus. If you see one of your kids from work in trouble, it doesn't matter that you're outside of business hours, most will do whatever is needed to jump in and protect them.

While most people who work with children hope they never encounter a time where they need to jump into action, they remain prepared. Ohio school bus driver, Todd Morris had this theory tested when he was driving his personal vehicle off duty and realized one of the houses on his school bus route was on fire. Immediately, Morris knew students he drove to and from school daily lived in the house that was being engulfed in flames.

But turns out Morris isn't only a school bus driver, he's also former law enforcement and an Army veteran. The man didn't hesitate to come to a screeching halt and jump out of his truck to try to save the family inside.

man near flaming house Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

Morris explains to Today what went through his mind when he saw the flames, “My heart just dropped. All I could think was, 'My kids. My kids are inside.’”

The schools in the area were closed due to extreme winter temperatures, so the former military member knew there was a big possibility that his students were inside. Don't worry, Morris called 911 before he ran towards a burning home. There was no answer at the locked door so Morris kicked the door in with the only thing on his mind being to make sure the kids were safe.

"I literally do call the kids on my bus, they're my kids. I watch out for them at least two hours a day. And I know every kid on my bus, every kid has a nickname," he tells News 5 Cleveland.

Fisher kids via GoFundMe

After kicking in the door, Morris looked around the house that was filled with thick smoke trying to make sure the kids were safe. Thankfully, the four children and their parents, Matt and Jordan Fisher were not home. Since school was canceled, the Fisher children spent the night with their grandmother so Matt and Jordan could go to work. But the home wasn't empty, while searching through the home, Morris came across the two family dogs, Lady and Cash.

Morris tells Today, "There was so much smoke I could barely see in front of me. It took me a second to orient myself and figure out which way I needed to go. The second floor was completely engulfed."

The Army veteran explains to the outlet that it was when he came back downstairs that he came in contact with the dogs, “They were staring at me like deer in headlights. They looked so scared."

One of the dogs, Cash is disabled so Morris had to carry him to his car. Both dogs got out safely and while the fire was put out in under two hours, the family lost everything. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family recover from this devastating loss.

The Fisher family is thankful for the man's quick action and selflessness which helped save their beloved pets. They plan to rebuild on the same property with the funds that are raised. As for Morris, he doesn't think he did anything special, I was in the right place at the right time. I did what anyone else would do, with my background in law enforcement and the military," he tells News 5 Cleveland.

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Equality

Maryland county turns firefighter stereotype on its head—and the photo itself is pure fire

BecauseOfThem/Instagram

If you were to imagine a typical firefighter, chances are you'd picture a white man in firefighting gear—and there's a good reason for that. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 96% of career firefighters in the U.S. are male and 82% are white. Firefighting has long been a white male dominated field for various reasons—but in some places that's starting to shift.

Meet the newest firefighters of Prince George's County, Maryland, who are flipping the image of a stereotypical firefighter on its head. A viral Instagram photo shared by BecauseOfThem shows eight black female firefighters posing in their gear, looking like fierce firefighting goddesses.

Do these women actually fight fire with fire? Because fire is all we see here.

RELATED: People argue that women aren't strong enough to be firefighters. Here's why they're wrong.

The photo is striking, partially because it's simply not what we're not used to seeing in an image of firefighters. Why fire departments are so heavily white male dominated is a question without a clear answer, but one cities have started exploring. For example, the Los Angeles Times looked into the LAFD's efforts to increase the department's diversity to more closely represent the demographics of the community it serves. Those efforts have largely failed, but why? Is it a self-perpetuating issue of representation? Is it a problem with bias or nepotism in hiring or recruiting? Is it that women and/or non-white Americans aren't interested in being firefighters? A little of all of the above?

On possible reason for Prince George's County's influx of black female firefighters might be who it hired as fire chief. Tiffany Green, former deputy chief, took over the department as acting fire chief this summer after her predecessor retired. She is the first female to lead the department, and she happens to be black as well.

Research shows that representation makes a difference in education and in media, so it's not a stretch to think that it matters in various career fields as well. If people don't see themselves reflected in certain professions, they may not even think to pursue those professions. Women have faced a lack of representation in many fields, as more women have entered the work force in full-time careers in the past couple of generations. But some fields, such as nursing, have had to overcome a lack of male representation as well.

The more we challenge the stereotypes of what certain professions look like, the easier it will be for all kids to imagine themselves in any career.

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Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been pledged to rebuild Notre Dame. It's only half the battle.

Yesterday, millions of people all over the world watched as one of the most iconic buildings in history went up in flames. Today, they sprung into action.

Whether you'd never seen the cathedral in person or had walked by it everyday of your life, it was a devastating event to witness. And while many are still in mourning over the loss of Notre Dame's grand spire, many others are already making a plan to restore the cathedral to its former glory.

Unsurprisingly, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, ever the activist, was one of the first to pledge himself to the task. "This Notre-Dame Cathedral, we will rebuild it. All together. This is part of our French destiny. I am committed to this: from tomorrow a national subscription will be launched, and far beyond our borders," he wrote on Twitter (translated into English).

Macron is also launching an international fundraising campaign to help with the extensive repairs.

Several prominent french people with deep pockets immediately followed suit by vowing to donate millions of dollars to aid in the restoration.

On Tuesday, Francois-Henri Pinault, chairman of Kering (the parent company of Gucci) announced that he and his father would donate 100 million euros (roughly $112.98 million). The pledge seemed to spark some friendly philanthropic competition among French billionaires as Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault, chief executive officer of LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods company, vowed to give 200 million euros to the cause.

Meanwhile, the city of Paris is also planning to donate 50 million euros, and the city of Cannes has pledged 11 million euros.

It might sound like they have plenty to get the job done, but some experts say that money is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out how to put a building that hundreds of years old back together when very few records about its construction have been kept.

"The stripped roof and upper masonry will reveal aspects of the building's history which probably haven't been understood,"architectural historian and broadcaster, Jonathan Foyle, told CNN. "Notre Dame has virtually no building records. We know (that construction) started in 1163 and was basically completed by about 1240, but there are no building accounts."

"Evidence for the evolution of that building is in the physical fabric, so you'll need an army of archaeologists all over it to better understand which parts they're repairing and what they belong to."

So, even with the large pledged budget, the likelihood is the restoration will take years if not decades.

That said, Notre Dame has suffered damage and been through restorations before and survived. While the fire was devastating, structural experts who've worked closely on the structure say it could've been much worse.

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After a fire consumed this Mosque, a neighboring synagogue gave them a place to worship.

Last week, a devastating fire left  hundreds of Muslims without their religious sanctuary.

The fire destroyed part of the Islamic Society of Mid-Manhattan mosque, a place of worship that catered to a sizeable portion of practicing Muslims in New York City.

When the nearby  Central Synagogue heard about the incident, they sprung into action.

Rather than just offer thoughts and prayers, the synagogue warmly opened its doors to provide a safe place for their afternoon prayers.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl caught a moment of prayer on camera and shared the image on her Facebook page along with a poignant message about embracing community in times of crises regardless of religious differences.

“Our neighbors at the 55th Street mosque had a terrible fire this week. Hundreds arrived for afternoon prayer only to find they couldn’t enter their mosque,” she wrote alongside the photo. “So we invited them to pray at Central Synagogue. Their Imam said this was the holiest moment he has experienced in New York. It is certainly one of ours as well. Salaam. Shalom.”

Turns out, the synagogue is no stranger to a loss of this nature.

On the synagogue’s official Facebook page, they explained that they suffered a similar loss 20 years ago. “Today, more than five hundred worshipers came to our Lindenbaum Pavillion to pray together as a community in safety,” they wrote. “As we approach Shabbat, we are thinking of our neighbors overcoming the difficult road ahead, but know they will rebuild.”

According to the New York Post, per their rituals, worshippers left their shoes in the hallway, and quickly prepared a hand-washing station.

Daniel Mutlu, Central’s senior cantor, told the Post that the experience bonded the two congregations in an important way.

“The most incredible part of the day, besides getting to experience their worship in our space — which was just a symbol of people coming together in a climate where there’s so much perception of disharmony and not getting along — was when they were streaming out of the pavilion following their service, the gratitude and love coming out of each one of them was palpable,” he said.

“They were just so grateful to have been welcomed into our space, and we felt the same, that we could be together in that moment. As the imam preached, we’re all praying to the same source of life. We might do it a little differently. We might have a different background. But we’re all really doing this for the same reasons.”

In a video from the sermon posted to Youtube, the mosque’s imam called it “the most blessed moment” of his life in New York.

“I feel very good for all of you,” he said to the group. “You were able to be part of this historic moment in New York, to show your children and your grandchildren, to witness the love and the care of our neighbors who show us their love and solidarity.”

“Light can come out of the darkness,” he added.

It’s a great reminder that, whatever your religious beliefs might be, reacting to unfortunate situations such as this with love, results in a win for everyone.

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