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Lincoln County deputy rescues disabled vet from burning home

By Dave Faherty, wsoctv.com
By Dave Faherty, wsoctv.com

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — A Lincoln County deputy is being called a hero for saving a disabled veteran from a burning home in Lincoln County.

Eyewitness News reporter Dave Faherty spoke with both men about the early-morning fire and how the deputy got the elderly man out.

Deputy Seth Hovis said he was heading to work when he heard the call for help and then saw the smoke and flames shooting out of the home.

He got there before firefighters arrived.

"I got out and she yelled that her husband was still in the house," Hovis said.

Bobby Canipe, who served in Vietnam and is disabled, couldn't get out of the house on his own.

Much of the fire blocked the rear entrance where his wheelchair ramp is located.

He got to a door that was away from the most intense flames and that was where Hovis leaned inside and got him and the wheelchair out of the burning home.

"I just ran up and told him to grab me around the neck and picked him up by the wheelchair, and picked him up and carried him down to the driveway," Hovis said.

Hovis also moved a pickup truck away from the fire.

Canipe fought back tears after the rescue as he expressed his gratitude.

"It destroyed my house,” Canipe said. “I'm very well-pleased with the Sheriff's Department, with the way they responded."

Hovis was glad he could help but doesn't consider himself a hero.

"No, I don't. I don't, not at all,” Hovis said. “I think the people who sign up for this job and do it, I think all of us would do the same thing."

Hovis thanked all the firefighters who responded. A neighbor is providing Canipe with a place to stay.

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