Newspaper carrier alerts West Valley City homeowner to fire, then continues route

A newspaper carrier saw a West Valley City home on fire and pounded on the door to alert its homeowner, allowing her to escape unharmed early Tuesday morning.

Matthew Hoagland, 30, says he was just doing his usual deliveries at 5:14 a.m. when he noticed "a bright light" coming from the garage of a customer's home at 4020 W. Dennis Drive (3015 South).

"It was pitch dark, so it stood out. ... When I got closer, come to find out it was a fire," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. "I got on my phone and called 911 while I went up [to the front door] to see if anyone was home."

While simultaneously providing address information to the emergency dispatcher on his phone, he repeatedly knocked on the door. "I was pounding on the door really hard, and that's apparently what got her up because she came out a moment later," he said.

Hoagland left to finish his deliveries shortly after firefighters arrived to douse the blaze.

"I guess I was just a good Samaritan and did a good deed. I just thought I should help," he said.

The fire appeared to have begun in the garage and spread into the attached residence. Damages reportedly topped $150,000.

Investigation into the cause of the fire was just beginning, but no injuries were reported, said West Valley Fire Battalion Chief Joe White.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims