MAILBAG: Many thanks to city’s firefighters

My wife and I would like to thank all Glendale Water & Power and Fire Department personnel for saving our house yesterday. The incident happened while the utility workers were replacing and installing copper wires on the poles in the neighborhood. A series of events took place that resulted in my home’s wiring to burn and start a fire.

The special hero of saving our house is someone from Glendale Water & Power (we did not get his name) who braved the smoke in the basement and discovered that the gas line was on fire along with the wooden sub-floor. He ran out of the house and asked my wife to show him where the gas shut-off valve was. He was able to shut off the gas using a tool I keep next to the meter.

The Fire Department told my wife that the house would have exploded in less than four minutes if the gas was not shut off.

The houses next door would have also gone up in flames because of the surrounding trees.

The firefighters were very cautious to avoid water damage and we are very appreciative.

Glendale Water & Power officials (more than 40) were very concerned, caring, and we very much appreciate that.

It is very important to recognize those who go beyond their normal duties to do extraordinary things. I would like you to relay this message to the utility worker who risked his life to save my wife and daughter, other Glendale Water & Power employees and our house. The City Council should also recognize him as well.

KHALED SOLIMAN

Glendale

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Americana causing a parking problem

As a new resident of Glendale, I moved to an apartment two blocks from the Americana at Brand thinking I would enjoy the amenities this has brought to the area — the shopping, the dining, the “casual living.” But I have discovered that the reality of the Americana is that its vendors don’t pay for employees to park in their very large garage, so they have en masse turned to my street for this.

Every night when work lets out, there are many parking places available on my street, should I arrive home at 1 a.m. After repeated phone calls to management of the Americana and the offending restaurants, no one has taken any action in the last month about the problem except to inform me that I should undertake getting my own street permitted parking.