Trash collector helps family escape house fire
They say people respond in one of three ways when confronted with a threat or emergency — fight, flight, or freeze. Matt Taylor, a Recology residential driver in Eureka, faced that challenge shortly before sunrise Tuesday morning and took action.
Taylor was tipping bins on his route at first light. As he drove his collection truck out of an alley, Matt’s eyes caught a plume of smoke 10 feet high and 3 feet wide coming from about a block away.
He immediately drove to the source of the smoke, a two-story craftsman house. Taylor stopped his truck, set the parking brake, saw a resident standing across the street, and yelled, “Did you call 911?”
“Yes,” the bystander said.
Taylor asked: “Do people live here?” The neighbor answered “yes”.
Taylor jumped out of his truck and ran to the house. He pounded on the front door and shouted for the people inside to come out.
The 17-year-old granddaughter of Catherine Bauer, owner of the house, heard Taylor’s pounding and shouting. The granddaughter woke Bauer and she came to the front door. That’s when Taylor told her, “Your house is on fire. Get out now!”
Bauer, her two adult sons, and her granddaughter started evacuating.
Bauer, her two adult sons, and her granddaughter started evacuating. One of the sons carried the family dog.
One of the sons carried the family dog.
As family members approached the door, Taylor noticed that everyone was barefoot. He spotted their shoes on the floor and said, “Grab your shoes!”
Two Humboldt Bay Fire engines arrived as the family exited their home. Firefighters used a ladder truck to access the roof and cut a 2-by-2 hole creating a pathway for smoke and hot gases to escape. Other firefighters entered the house and used fire hoses to extinguish the flames.
Family members said as they evacuated smoke
started billowing down a staircase connecting the first and second floors. The residence suffered significant damage but remained intact. Most importantly, no one was injured.
Bauer’s daughter-inlaw Maridee Farmer said were it not for Taylor’s actions they “couldn’t imagine how this would have turned out.”