Metro Bus driver Richard Lucas is a reluctant hero who is shunning the attention being heaped upon him for rescuing two families earlier this week from a burning South Park Avenue home.

Lucas has no interest in talking about his actions. C. Douglas Hartmayer, spokesman for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, said the driver just wanted to help people and go back to his life.

But, whether Lucas believes he acted heroicly or not, those who escaped the Monday morning blaze at 1695 South Park and Buffalo fire officials certainly believe he did.

A woman living upstairs with her three children and a teenage nephew, plus a man who lived downstairs with his wife and three children, say they all could have died if not for Lucas.

“I woke up to a guy screaming in the house,” said Juan Huertas, the downstairs resident. “I had no idea who it was, and then I heard my wife screaming, ‘Get out of the house.’ ”

All 10 people escaped from the burning home shortly after dawn when Lucas got off his No. 16 Metro Bus and banged on the front door to wake them up.

Hartmayer said Lucas was alone on the bus, heading to his first stop of the morning at the Lackawanna Victory Transit Center, when he came upon the fire.

After making sure everyone got out of the house, the three-year veteran bus driver, who works a split shift for the NFTA, got back on his vehicle and continued toward his destination.

“He’s just the nicest guy,” Hartmayer said of Lucas. “He’s very humble. I’ve been getting calls from all over — Canada, “Inside Edition” — looking to talk to him.”

“He told me, ‘I just did what I did to do what I did,’ ” according to Hartmayer, who says Lucas isn’t seeking acclaim for the rescue. “He did what he did because it was the right thing to do. Then, he got back on the bus and continued his run. We’re very proud of him.”

The cause of the blaze, which began on the first floor, remained under investigation. Damage was estimated at $80,000. A dog perished in the fire.

The American Red Cross assisted the people routed by the blaze.