Stacey Pass will always be grateful to Jason Fogerty.
The results of a Wednesday, April 21 fire could have been much worse for the Pass family had Fogerty not stopped while driving on Parview Drive.
Fogerty is credited with pounding on the door to wake the Pass family while others called the Independence Township Fire Department. The fire, which began in a truck and spread to two other family vehicles in the driveway, came close to igniting the side of the home containing the family’s bedrooms and dog kennel.
It was about 12:15 a.m. when the family was awakened by Fogerty at the door.
‘We heard someone just pounding and pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell,? Pass said. They didn’t know what the emergency was as Fogerty tried to get information relayed to someone with a cell phone in the car.
‘He’s saying, ‘What’s your address?? and I said ‘What’s the matter? Is there an accident?? He said, ‘Your house is on fire.??
Kent Pass went for a garden hose in a futile attempt to fight the fire. Stacey Pass ran upstairs to get their daughter, eight-year-old Sierra. Four family dogs were also released from their kennel on the driveway side of the house.
They then went to a neighbor’s home to await the fire department.
‘The flames seemed 50 feet high,? she said. ‘It was only a matter of minutes, but it seemed so much longer. Every time a tire would blow, it sounded like a bomb going off.?
When the truck’s fuel tank exploded, it rained fuel and flaming debris on her Corvette, she said. The outside wall of the home suffered some heat damage, but the fire was contained before it ignited.
The Pass family is now dealing with the aftermath of the blaze, including insurance claims and a suspicion of an electrical problem with the truck (which has been in for service several times for the same problem, she said). The overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude, however.
‘It’s really scary,? she said. ‘Had those people not stopped, I don’t think we would have woke up until the house was on fire. A few more minutes, and we may not have made it out of the house.?
Pass has talked with Fogerty on the phone. Sierra Pass drew a thank you picture, which was mailed with a thank you gift, but Stacey Pass believes it is inadequate thanks.
‘It’s nothing. How do you put a value on that? If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know,? she said. ‘Cars can be replaced, and the house can be replaced for that matter. But our family and our dogs. . .?
Attempts by The Clarkston News to contact Fogerty have been unsuccessful.