Phone Repairman Helps Save Dogs From Fire

HOLLAND, Mich. - A telephone repairman came calling at just the right time for a southwestern Michigan homeowner and the owner's two dogs.

Matt Goff, an employee of SBC Communications Inc., said he was making a service call at a Holland house around 2:30 p.m. Monday when he noticed smoke filling the structure as he was knocking on the front door.

He considered trying to pop open the door but decided instead to call for aid.

"It was a first for me," he said. "I'm not sure I get paid enough to do this type of work, but I'm glad I could help."

Firefighters from Holland and neighboring Park Township arrived within minutes, entered the single-story home and led the dogs outside. The house was otherwise unoccupied at the time.

They said the occupant had left without turning off something that had been cooking on the stove, and the burning food filled the house with smoke. Firefighters turned off the stove and cleared out the smoke by opening some windows.

Goff was credited with preventing a possibly serious house fire that could have killed the dogs.

"It could have been bad if the phone man wasn't here at that exact time," Scott Gamby, the township's fire chief, told The Holland Sentinel. "The resident was really lucky that guy was here