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Milkman rescues Layton family
Driver puts out fire on porch (Ogden Standard-Examiner)
4/29/2006
BY BRYON SAXTON Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau bsaxton@standard.net
LAYTON — Milkman Stuart Wood, 32, delivered twice for the Filtz family of Layton on Wednesday.
Wood, employed by Winder Farms, first used a garden hose to put out a fire on the Filtz home porch at 1279 N. 2260 East, then went to his truck and retrieved the family’s weekly milk order.
“He was in the right place at the right time,” Ron Filtz said of Wood, who at 3:10 a.m. banged on the doors and entered the home yelling the family’s name. Filtz and his two daughters, ages 5 and 7, then evacuated the home.
“My first thought was just to get the family out,” said Wood, a South Weber resident.
Filtz’s wife, a nurse at a local hospital, was at work at the time.
Wood said as he was approaching the home to make his delivery, a wood pile, which appeared to have been smoking for some time, burst into flames.
“As I got closer, little flames began shooting out the logs. Then it engulfed the whole pile of logs,” Wood said. He added that the flames reached the eaves on the home and were beginning to curl over onto the roof by the time he was able to make contact with the family.
“I’m not sure what started it. But it must have been burning embers for hours and hours,” Filtz said. “It was just odd the way it happened. If he would have been there five minutes later, we may have been trapped in the house.”
Once they had time to reflect on what could have been lost, Filtz said, there was an emotional moment.
“I gave him a big old hug,” he said. “He is a hero.”
Because of Wood’s quick action, Filtz said, the fire did not damage his east Layton home.
Wood, who has worked for Winder Farms since October, said he didn’t do anything anybody else in his situation wouldn’t have done.
“I’m just glad I was there when I was,” he said.
Being a hero is new for Wood, who a few minutes after putting out the fire said he had to pull over to the side of the road and call his wife. He said he began shaking as a result of the adrenaline rushing through his body.
“It felt like a dream,” he said.
Fortunately for the family, Wood was running late that day.
“For some strange reason, he was running about an hour late that night. But it was very fortunate,” Winder Farms Northern Utah manager Butch Rognon said.
“I think all of my delivery guys would do the same thing. They all care for their customers,” Rognon said.
And although it took Wood about nine minutes to wake up the family and put the fire out, Rognon said, he still managed to make his 8 a.m. delivery deadline for his customers.
“He did all that and made his deadline,” said the proud boss.
Members of the Filtz family pose with Stuart Wood (right). Wood is a hero to the Filtzes because he put out a fire in a wood pile on their porch. He still finished his deliveries on time as well. Photo courtesy of Winder Farms
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