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Dave McGlothlin left for work on Tuesday as a letter carrier but came home a hero.
McGlothlin, 35, of Newton, was delivering his normal route on a sweltering 101 degree day Tuesday when he heard a strange sound coming from a house at 805 E. First St.
He didn’t think much of it until he got a little past the house, and then he smelled it — smoke. The screeching was the unsynchronized alarms of the smoke detectors sounding in the house.
McGlothlin stuck his head in an open window, and the smoke smell was stronger. He circled the house pounding on doors, but no one answered. A neighbor LeAnn McKay from across the street saw McGlothlin investigating the house and asked if something was wrong.
He said, “Yes, call 911, it’s a fire!”
A Newton police officer was the first on the scene. He entered the house through the open window, and McGlothlin said he could see the stove was in flames.
Newton firefighters arrived shortly after and were able to quickly extinguish the fire.
The electricity had been off in the house and come back on while resident Melissa Trevizo was at work.
A piece of plastic on a burner that was left on had ignited the fire, fire officials said.
No one was hurt in the fire, and damage was limited to the stove.
On Wednesday, Trevizo, a mother of seven small children, said she wished to thank McGlothlin for his help.
“Had that fire burned our home, my children and I would have had nothing,” she said.
Newton Fire/EMS chief Gary Denny said McGlothlin’s swift actions prevented more extensive damage to the house and its contents.
“It is vital that we get the earliest detection we can to get to an emergency. Earlier intervention lessens damage,” he said. “Had that postal worker not caught it, it would have escalated to the point it was noticed from the outside. ... There would have been a higher lose of property if he had not intervened.”
Robin Gay, Newton postmaster, said she was proud of McGlothlin’s actions.
“Carriers sort of take a sense pride in their routes,” she said. “They are going to notice any unusual activity because they are there every day.”
McGlothlin said he tries to look out for trouble in the neighborhoods in which he works, but nothing like this has ever happened to him in his five and a half years as a letter carrier.
“I was glad to be there for sure,” he said. “My brother-in-law’s house burned, and maybe that made me more alert. When I smelled smoke, I wanted to make sure that it was taken care of before I left.”
Dave McGlothlin left for work on Tuesday as a letter carrier but came home a hero.
McGlothlin, 35, of Newton, was delivering his normal route on a sweltering 101 degree day Tuesday when he heard a strange sound coming from a house at 805 E. First St.
He didn’t think much of it until he got a little past the house, and then he smelled it — smoke. The screeching was the unsynchronized alarms of the smoke detectors sounding in the house.
McGlothlin stuck his head in an open window, and the smoke smell was stronger. He circled the house pounding on doors, but no one answered. A neighbor LeAnn McKay from across the street saw McGlothlin investigating the house and asked if something was wrong.
He said, “Yes, call 911, it’s a fire!”
A Newton police officer was the first on the scene. He entered the house through the open window, and McGlothlin said he could see the stove was in flames.
Newton firefighters arrived shortly after and were able to quickly extinguish the fire.
The electricity had been off in the house and come back on while resident Melissa Trevizo was at work.
A piece of plastic on a burner that was left on had ignited the fire, fire officials said.
No one was hurt in the fire, and damage was limited to the stove.
On Wednesday, Trevizo, a mother of seven small children, said she wished to thank McGlothlin for his help.
“Had that fire burned our home, my children and I would have had nothing,” she said.
Newton Fire/EMS chief Gary Denny said McGlothlin’s swift actions prevented more extensive damage to the house and its contents.
“It is vital that we get the earliest detection we can to get to an emergency. Earlier intervention lessens damage,” he said. “Had that postal worker not caught it, it would have escalated to the point it was noticed from the outside. ... There would have been a higher lose of property if he had not intervened.”
Robin Gay, Newton postmaster, said she was proud of McGlothlin’s actions.
“Carriers sort of take a sense pride in their routes,” she said. “They are going to notice any unusual activity because they are there every day.”
McGlothlin said he tries to look out for trouble in the neighborhoods in which he works, but nothing like this has ever happened to him in his five and a half years as a letter carrier.
“I was glad to be there for sure,” he said. “My brother-in-law’s house burned, and maybe that made me more alert. When I smelled smoke, I wanted to make sure that it was taken care of before I left.”
