DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — A Culligan delivery driver in Sturgeon Bay, wasn’t even scheduled to be at the house that day. But his early holiday delivery put him in the right place at the right time.
Watch below as we speak with the delivery driver who saved a home from a kitchen fire:
Eric Friehe has worked for Culligan’s Water Conditioning in Sturgeon Bay for 25 years. On Monday, he was out making deliveries early, ahead of the holidays.
"I pulled into the driveway and got my bag of salt. I entered through the garage, and I heard an alarm sound," Eric Friehe said.
Once he entered the home's laundry room, he realized the alarm was actually the smoke detector.
"I opened the next door into the main part of the house and a dog bust through, pushed me out of the way, and black smoke just started bellowing out into the laundry room," He said, "I made my way straight to the kitchen where the stove was on fire."
He says the stovetop flames reached about a foot high, so he went straight into action, putting out the fire with a wet kitchen rag before it could spread.
At the time, calling 9-1-1 never even crossed his mind.
"For all I knew, there could've been somebody in the house," Friehe said.
Friehe says he aired out the house and waited for the owner to come home.
Sturgeon Bay Fire Chief Katlin Montevideo says she’s relieved no one was hurt, but reminds everyone that calling 9-1-1 is always the safest move.
"We would like to be called as a fire department just to ensure there’s no extension of fire and to make sure it’s all around safe," Katlin Montevideo, Sturgeon Bay Fire Chief, said.
She says that not calling could put someone at risk if a fire gets out of control.
The homeowners weren’t available for an interview, but they sent a statement saying, in part:
"In a moment that could have changed everything for our family, Eric [Friehe] showed up and made all the difference."
