Greendale Resident Thanked For Speedy Alert After Spotting Fire

GREENDALE, WI — A Greendale resident is receiving thanks for her quick action after she noticed a truck was about to catch fire in a home's driveway on Dawson Court Monday.

Jamie Podd was driving east on Parkview Road, about to drop her son off at elementary school, when she noticed lots of white smoke, she told Patch. Considering the frigid temperatures of the day, she thought it may have been someone just running their engine to warm up the car.

But instead of shrugging off the smoke, Podd slowed down to investigate. She noticed black smoke seeping out the back window of a truck parked in a home's driveway, she said.

"So I pulled in front of the house and started honking like a maniac," Podd said. She then called 911 and gave a description while still honking to get the block's attention.

The truck quickly went up in flames. Its windows exploded.

"It was a matter of five minutes from me noticing smoke seeping out of the window until it was totally engulfed, which was crazy to see," Podd said.

"The scary part is if someone is in there or if the house were to catch fire," she said.

Rob Kobleska, who lives near where the truck caught fire, told Patch he thought it may have been some teenagers causing a stir outside when he first heard the honking. Then he looked out his dining room window and saw the black smoke.

He said he heard the truck running and knew right away what was going on, so he went out to help.

"The way the wind was blowing, we were all kind of terrified that the embers were going to go all over everyone's home. Jamie was right in the thick of it," Kobleska said.

Podd said another neighbor also came outside with a fire extinguisher. She said she didn't end up using it, though, as the priority was to make sure nobody was too close to the truck.

The Greendale Fire Department was quick to arrive on the scene, and the fire was promptly controlled, Podd said.

Podd pointed in part to her father, who taught her always to be aware of her surroundings, and to the tightknit Greendale community for motivating her to spring into action.

"You just never know," she said. "I never expect that someone else has called it in, because maybe they didn't notice. Maybe they didn't see. We can't help each other if we only think about ourself."

"I don't think that I did anything extraordinary," Podd added. "I think that my neighbors, my friends, would do the same. ... I think everyone had a part, and that's what the Greendale community is: Being able to be there in a moment of need."

Podd is a lifelong Greendale resident, and so is her husband, she said. After the ordeal, Podd said she still managed to get her son to school on time.

"That was the talk of the first-grade lineup," she said. "'Did you see that truck on fire?'"

Podd's actions earned props from, Kolbeska, who posted in a community Facebook group to thank Podd, and told Patch people appreciated her heroic actions to alert everyone around.

Podd said she was thankful for how quickly Greendale Fire Department showed up, adding a community Facebook group she helps run was looking to support the family after the sudden truck fire.