Citizen saved fire station from burning down
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

SEBASTIAN RAMIREZ/Acorn Newspapers HONORED FOR HELPING- Brett Taylor, a popular visitor at Fire Station No. 34, noticed trouble while the crew was out fighting a blaze in January. He's credited with preventing a fire at the station.

Brett Taylor didn't expect to find a smoldering fire inside empty Fire Station No. 34 in T.O. when he went to visit friends there about 7 p.m. Jan. 28.

His quick response to the smoky situation earned him a certificate of appreciation last Friday from the Ventura County Fire Department after a luncheon where he was surrounded by family and friends.

It all began when a firefighter left dinner cooking on the stove. An emergency call had sent the entire crew to fight a house fire in the 1700 block of Burning Tree Drive.

The dinner in the oven and the green beans cooking on top of the stove eventually overheated.

That's when Taylor, 48, walked in.

"I saw a lot of smoke and the smoke detector was going beep, beep, beep," he said. "I picked up the smoking pan and put it in water. I opened the windows and aired it out."

Firefighters from another station showed up and helped him put up fans to blow the smoke out, Taylor said.

He's been a friend of the fire department since around 1968, his father, Phil, said.

Taylor is known to many businesses in Thousand Oaks, including hair salons, ambulance services and places at both the Janss Marketplace and The Oaks mall. He's been riding his bike from place to place ever since the family moved into town back in the '60s, Phil Taylor said.

"He's hyper-social. He knows every fireman and they've taught him lots of things about safety, their trucks and the fire house," the elder Taylor explained.

He also volunteers at The Oaks mall, where he's put his safety knowledge into action, said Julia Ladd, senior manager of the shopping center. It didn't come as a shock to her to hear about him saving the fire station.

"I wasn't surprised," Ladd said. "He roams around the mall always looking for ways to help others."

Those at the fire station have come to think of Taylor as a part of their firehouse.

"I've known him since we went to Thousand Oaks High School together. He's been around the fire station before I started in 1980," Capt. Brian Dilley said. "He's been coming around and hangs around with the guys."

Not just at Station 34. Taylor rides his bike around to all the fire stations, said Dilley, who serves at Station No. 31.

"He has a habit of being in the right place at the right time," Dilley said.

"I've known him for close to 30 years. I would see him at the Janss Marketplace when I was about 12 and he was 15 or 16," Capt. Tony O'Hagan said.

Firefighters made Taylor, his family and friends a lunch of lasagna, barbecue sandwiches, salads and chocolate chip cookies before presenting him with the certificate of appreciation. Firefighters from around the city came to honor their friend.

What began as a scary situation became one of Taylor's best days ever, the honoree said.

"I did okay. I did a good job of saving the fire station."