PLEASANT GROVE — On just about any other day, Emily Crofts would not have been at the intersection where she saw orange flames leaping through the roof of a nearby house.
Afton Miller, 83, and her husband, Keith, 84, are lucky that Crofts deviated from the itinerary she normally follows for picking up her son at the Heritage School. It likely saved the lives of both Millers.
"I left a little early, so I was coming from a different direction. I normally don't go on that street," Crofts said Friday.
Crofts said she noticed the fire as she paused at a nearby intersection about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Another driver at the intersection motioned to her, trying to ascertain whether she had a cell phone to use to call for help.
Crofts did not and started to drive through intersection. She said she suddenly had a strong feeling that prompted her to stop.
"I saw a car in the driveway and I thought, 'They don't know about this!' " Crofts said.
Despite the cold and the fact that three youngsters were in the car with her, Crofts, who is pregnant, stopped the car, got out and headed straight into the house, startling the occupants inside.
"They were pretty bewildered," Crofts said. "I felt bad that I just walked in, but I had the feeling they were elderly and I should just do what needed to be done.
"The man was in the back room in a wheelchair. I knew the fire was just above him," Crofts said of the situation she found. "The lady, I don't think it registered with her what was going on."
Crofts insisted the two leave the home without delay. As she was ushering them out of the house, firefighters began to arrive — offering their thanks for the timely rescue of the couple.
"I don't know. I think anybody would've done the same," Crofts said. "I was just glad the door wasn't locked."
Pleasant Grove Fire Chief Mark Hales said the fire apparently started under some asphalt shingles on the home's southwest corner after construction workers used gas burners to heat tar for a roof repair on the patio. The fire caused approximately $50,000 damage, and the ceiling above where Keith Miller had been sitting collapsed.
Afton Miller said Crofts was truly a Good Samaritan.
Crofts, she said, "was most insistent we get right out."
Crofts dismisses any talk of her being a hero.
"Anybody would've done it," she said.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com