Michael Bray hopes to shine a spotlight on the program that recognized his bravery after saving three lives in a house fire

Story By Katie Hightower

When Michael Bray rushed into a burning home in Texas to rescue people trapped inside, he wasn’t thinking about recognition. However, his actions that day saved three lives, and he earned the Carnegie Medal for Heroism. The award is one of the highest honors that can be given to civilians who risk their lives to save others. Now a resident of Jackson County, Bray said he hopes to spread awareness about the program that recognized his actions.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was created in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie after the Harwick Mining Explosion. Two men, Selwyn Taylor and Daniel Lyle, died while attempting to save victims in the explosion. Moved by their heroic efforts, Carnegie felt compelled to recognize their heroics and help their families who were left behind.

The commission’s goal is to honor civilian heroes who voluntarily put their own lives in danger to save the lives of others. While many honored with the award live to see the recognition, 20 percent of the heroes honored by the award died saving others. For the heroes who died, their families received the posthumous award on behalf of their loved one.

Heroes or their dependents who receive the medal become eligible for financial assistance. The heroes can receive grants and scholarships, while dependents left behind can receive financial support. Since the program’s inception, more than 10,000 medals have been awarded and over 100,000 have been nominated.

Bray received the award for his quick action during a situation that could have ended the lives of four people. On Sept. 27, 1971, he was working as a lineman in Texas when he and another man, Errick Mackey, saw the home ablaze. They knew there wasn’t time to wait for the fire department, so they both rushed into the home to look for survivors.

Mackey found a woman in the kitchen while Bray headed upstairs. He found a bed-ridden elderly woman, a teenager ready to jump out a window, and a toddler named Ruby Calhoun. Bray convinced the teenager not to jump and gathered all three to carry them to the stairs — the only way out of the home. The stairs were ablaze, and he decided to jump with all three people.

“I blacked out after that,” Bray said. “I remember waking up outside with an oxygen mask on. The grandmother ran over to me in tears and thanked me.”

After his heroic deed, Bray returned to work even though first responders wanted to take him to the hospital.

“My dad, who also worked for the utility company, had just gotten over having a heart attack, and I didn’t want to worry him. So I didn’t tell him. I just went back to work and took it easy the rest of the day,” Bray said.

Word of his heroics spread, and before long, both Bray and Mackey were recognized with silver Vail medals from AT&T. Then, one day, Bray heard from a representative from the Carnegie Foundation.

“They sent this investigator who came and met with me and my wife. He even went to the scene of the fire and took samples which he sent to a lab. He said the foundation would be in touch,” Bray said.

Not long after the visit, Bray was presented with the Carnegie Medal for Heroism and received a check. He later learned the investigation determined that he had narrowly escaped death when he rescued the family. To this day, Bray never learned the names of all the victims he saved; he only knew the young girl, Ruby Calhoun.

“I wonder what she’s doing now and how she is,” Bray said.

“I don’t want to brag about what I did,” Bray said. “I just want people to know that this program exists. There are a lot of heroes here in Jackson County, and this is something that they could be nominated for.”

As a Carnegie Hero, Bray receives a newsletter from the foundation every quarter. The newsletter lists new nominees and details accounts of past recipients in its publication, Impulse. Bray looks forward to reading about the heroics of other civilians in the U.S. and Canada. Each time he receives the publication, he thinks more attention should be given to the organization and what it does for the heroes and their families.

“They do so much for families left behind, and it’s needed,” Bray said.

While heroes risk their own lives to look out for others, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission looks out for the heroes. To learn more about the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission or to nominate a hero, visit www.carnegiehero.org.