KENNESAW - Although Matt Macurak, 38, of Kennesaw, downplays his rescue of six people from a car stuck in rapidly rising floodwaters Monday, his family is calling him a hero.

Motorists were backed up on Stilesboro Road in Kennesaw because of a foot of water flowing over the roadway above a creek crossing. A Toyota Camry had just made it through. A BMW followed, and then Macurak navigated his 1,500-pound Dodge Ram truck into the waters. It was about 1:30 p.m. and he was trying to get to Lewis Elementary School to pick up his daughter early.

"I was going to cross it. It was my last chance to get to my daughter's school," he said.

Suddenly, the BMW in front of him got stuck. The car had stalled out and the waters were rising. Macurak came to the rescue.

"The man had four kids in the back, so I asked him if he wanted me to help get them out and bring them across the bridge," Macurak said.

After towing the two adults and four children to safety, Macurak returned to the BMW and tried to pull the car out with his truck.

But, "his BMW was new and it wouldn't go into neutral, so I couldn't pull it out," he said.

He said the water rose from one foot to more than three feet in the matter of half an hour.

"The water was like an absolute river. I didn't see the danger when I first came up to the water, but I saw the danger of the man and his brother trying to carry the kids out of the water," Macurak said.

Macurak gave the man his contact information, but has not heard from him since. He only learned the man's first name during the course of the events, but said the man thanked him many times at the scene.

Macurak makes light of Monday's rescue. He didn't fear for his life or that his truck would get swept away. He also denies being a hero, but his family has been taunting him anyway.

"My whole family is being smart alecks - texting me all day saying, 'way to go hero,'" he said. "...I don't feel like a hero for it, but I will promise you my family is having fun with it."

He said he believes anyone who was backed up at the creek crossing would've done the same thing.

As for his daughter at Lewis Elementary, she made it home on the school bus after a two-hour ride.