MIDDLETOWN – It’s a good thing Robert Clancy of Middletown remembered to place his recyclables at the curb one Wednesday morning.
That is when he noticed his neighbor’s home was on fire.
During a Middletown Township Committee meeting on Jan. 21, Clancy was cited as a hero after he rescued his elderly neighbor from a house fire on Dec. 18.
“These are the great days when township gets to honor great people … Today we are here to honor a great man. A great man who showed above all else what it means to be not only a great person, but a great neighbor and friend,” Mayor Tony Perry said.
Speaking with Clancy, the Middletown resident said he was placing his recyclable at the curb for collection when he noticed smoke emitting from his neighbors home at 160 Morningside Ave. in North Middletown.
Understanding his neighbor of 14 years is a disabled veteran and the sole occupant of the home, Clancy knew he needed to take action. Clancy then entered the home and found his neighbor, Richard Borucki, on a sofa.
“The smoke was coming out of my neighbors house so I just ran inside, found (Borucki) and pulled him out,” Clancy said. “(Borucki) was in a back room and I was able to get him out before the major flames took over.”
Clancy said a bedroom heater caught fire.
“He had a walker with him and just to get him to the walker was extremely difficult for him. That’s when I came in and helped him off his couch and took him and his walker outside,” Clancy said.
Clancy said Borucki appeared disoriented and may have been unaware his home was on fire.
“It was early in the morning, too, so (Borucki) may have just been waking up,” Clancy said. “I’m just glad he is OK. I have known him for a long time. It was not a problem going in there and helping him at all.”
