GUILDERLAND — Michael Hanley sounded humble this week after being praised as a hero last week for helping to save his neighbors from their burning home.

Hanley and Guilderland Police Officer John Govel pulled Ray and Alice Stealey out of their home at 454 Church Rd. last Wednesday morning. Both men grew up in the Church Road neighborhood and lived next door to the Stealeys.

The two men have known each other and the Stealeys all of their life, Hanley told The Enterprise this week.
"I live on one side, and Johnny’s mom lives on the other side," said Hanley. "It’s kind of a close neighborhood.
"We live next door and the fire was coming out their back door," Hanley told The Enterprise, as he described the scene on his way to work at 5 a.m. on March 22.

After seeing the flames, Hanley quickly told his mother to call 911, and then banged on several windows around the house on his way to the garage for a hammer in order to gain entry into the home. It was after he came around the corner from the garage that Hanley first saw Govel’s police cruiser.
"I was just happy to see his car there"I knew I had help," said Hanley. "I just wanted to get them out of the house."

Hanley then gave Govel the hammer to smash out the bedroom window of Mr. Stealey, who is legally deaf and blind and uses the assistance of an oxygen tank to breathe, he said. The two men called out for the elderly couple as they peered into the smoke-filled home.

Mr. Stealey was only a few feet away from window and Mrs. Stealey came down the stairs when she heard their voices, according to Hanley.

The two men made sure the window was completely broken out before they pulled the elderly couple through the window.
"First we pulled Mrs. Stealey out, then we got Mr. Stealey," said Hanley.

Govel brought Mrs. Stealey to his police car, and Mr. Stealey walked to the cruiser on his own, Heanley said. There they waited for an emergency medical service team to arrive.

No one was seriously hurt according to Westmere Fire Chief William Swartz, who last week credited the two men with saving the Stealeys lives.

The Stealys were taken to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany for smoke inhalation, and were released. Since their house sustained major damage, they have been staying with relatives.