Martha Munoz was delivering The Columbian to houses on the first street on her paper route early Wednesday when she spotted smoke coming from a garage.
She quickly called 911 to report the fire at 1005 S.E. 123rd Ave. It was just about 2 a.m. and Munoz’s instinct was to run to the burning house.
“She was trying to knock, but (the dispatcher) told her not to because she was in danger,” said Munoz’s son, Jose, who translated from Spanish for his mother. “She said no, she was going to get them.”
Even though she was scared, Martha Munoz, 41, followed her instinct. She knocked on the front door and then a window before the three people inside finally came out.
“She discovered the fire and alerted the occupants to leave the house,” said Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli. “It’s amazing and really fortunate that she was there at the time. She did the absolute right thing.”
Antonita Perez, 77, her son and grandson were all asleep inside the home.
“I heard banging on the bathroom window and jumped up,” she said. “When I opened my bedroom door, there was a lot of smoke in the hallway … I knew it was an emergency.”
In the hectic emergency response, Perez didn’t get a chance to speak to Munoz.
“I just want to tell her thank you very much for saving our lives,” Perez said. “She’s my hero and my angel.”
Vancouver firefighters responded and put out the blaze, which was contained to the 528-square-foot garage, said Scarpelli.
Seventy-five percent of the garage’s structure was damaged and all of its contents were destroyed, resulting in an estimated loss of $40,000, Scarpelli said. The property was insured.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Jason Tiede, Columbian district manager in charge of the Cascade Park area, said he called Munoz and commended her for her swift action.
“Who knows what could have happened if she didn’t see the fire and was brave enough to wake the family up,” said Tiede. “I thanked her for being brave. “
Munoz, however, said she doesn’t think she did anything special.
“She just did it to save the people, she doesn’t really feel all that brave,” Jose Munoz said.
