Human Interest Human Interest News Tragedy News 'Heroic' Uber Driver Helps 2 People Escape Burning Building — But Still Gets Passenger to Airport on Time! "He went above and beyond to keep his neighbors in New York safe," an Uber spokesperson said in a statement By Giovana Gelhoren Giovana Gelhoren Giovana Gelhoren is a former digital news writer at PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 19, 2022 01:30PM EDT Not all heroes wear capes – some drive Ubers. On Wednesday, while Uber driver Fritz Sam was taking a passenger to LaGuardia Airport, he saw a brownstone on fire in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood, NBC New York reported. "We looked and I saw fire coming out of the second-floor apartment," Sam recalled to the CW affiliate WPIX. "It looked pretty serious because the flames were already shooting out of the window." So Sam immediately pulled over and got out the car. "Together we just started shouting, 'Is anyone inside?' Screaming at the top of our lungs, 'Come out, come out, there's a fire,'" he told WPIX. And with no response, he decided to run inside to make sure. Boston Police Boat Rescues Stranded 'Groom in Distress' Just Before the Ceremony As it turned out, Sam's intuition was spot-on. Once inside the building, he helped rescue two people, a man and a woman, Uber confirms to PEOPLE. "All I wanted to do was do the right thing, display some courage," Sam told NBC New York. "I was afraid, but there was a moment where I had to put it aside and focus on the task." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Once firefighters arrived on the scene, Sam jumped right back into his car. "It was surreal, but we got to the airport on time," he told WPIX. Opening up about the experience on social media, passenger Jemimah Wei shared that Sam was surprisingly casual about the whole thing. "He emerged from the building all like, 'hey, do I smell of smoke?' I was like, 'Sir, you just saved someone's life????' And he was like, 'oh, ya,' Wei wrote on Twitter. High School Football Players Rescue Woman from Car After Crash: 'They Went Above and Beyond to Help' Afterwards, Uber praised the driver, who's been with them since 2015. "We're incredibly grateful to have such a heroic and thoughtful member of our community in Fritz," a spokesperson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "Today, he went above and beyond to keep his neighbors in New York safe - and still managed to get his rider to the airport on time." In fact, Sam was even honored in Uber's 2022 Yearbook, which celebrates some of their most inspiring drivers and couriers. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi even called to thank him. "I spoke to this @Uber hero," Khosrowshahi wrote on Twitter. "People are good indeed." Toddler Was Chasing Bubbles When He Helped Find 82-Year-Old Woman Who Had Been Missing for Days However, Sam said that he "didn't do anything special." "If your family was in a burning building, you wouldn't hesitate," he told WPIX. "All I did was say, 'Wait a minute, that may not be my family, but that's somebody's family.'"