The actions of this quick-thinking newspaper delivery man saved a neighborhood from a Christmas-morning disaster

It’s being referred to by a grateful community as a Christmas miracle, although Lon Taylor — the man responsible for it — tries his best to downplay his part in it.

It happened early Christmas morning, well before daylight, when Taylor, 64, was on his usual newspaper run.

For 36 years, the recent retiree has had a part-time gig delivering several publications, including The Inquirer, to subscribers throughout southern Chester County, including those who live at Ovations at Elk View, a 55-and-over community in Penn Township.

That morning at Ovations, he smelled a bad odor and heard a hissing sound — and his antennae shot up.

Before his retirement, Taylor worked for 35 years at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, where he ran the steam-generating plant, which was powered mostly by gas.

Being “pretty experienced with the sound and the smell of raw gas,” he instantly knew there was a gas leak. He called 911 and within about 10 minutes was met by Eric Felker, the assistant fire chief for the West Grove Fire Co. Felker lives near Ovations and was able to get there quickly.

About a dozen residents evacuated the grounds while Felker contacted PECO, which dispatched a service technician who — after digging a foot into the ground — found a broken gas line outside the Ovations community center and was able to shut off its valve.

When fire crews were able to safely enter the building, they found high levels of natural gas in the basement. They opened windows and doors to ventilate the building and used fans to disperse the gas.

Within an hour, residents were back in their homes, no worse for the incident, thanks to Taylor.

“It was extremely important that he called,” said Felker. “It was 5:20 on Christmas morning, in a densely populated area, when most people are in bed. It was kind of like a Christmas miracle, having a guy deliver newspapers, recognizing something was wrong.”

But the miracle worker modestly plays down his actions.

“I did what I had to do under the circumstances,” said Taylor, who lives in the tiny nearby town of Lincoln University, Pa., with his wife of 35 years, L’Tanya. They have a grown son and daughter and three grandchildren. “It’s not a big deal.”

Those in the community would disagree.

“If he had not called, we probably would have lost the clubhouse and neighboring houses,” said Carole Beehler, a board member of the Ovations homeowners association to whom Taylor delivers The Inquirer every morning.

Well before this incident, the newspaper man had been held in high esteem by Ovations residents, said Lee Spaulder, another of his Inquirer customers.

“Lon Taylor is so well thought of,” she said. “He is so dedicated, prompt, and caring. He seems to know some of the people who are not as healthy, who can’t get to the end of the driveway, and he makes every effort to get their newspaper to the front door. It’s little things like that. In a community that has some elderly people, that means a lot.”

And, she added, “He’s a really great guy.”

Ovations resident Jim Malone, a volunteer member of the fire department who was on the scene when the leak was found, knows the sort of disaster Taylor helped avert.

“I could hear the gas leak from 200 feet away,” Malone said. “The odor was evident as you got closer. It was a considerable amount of pressure going through the gas line when it broke. I am so grateful for what he did.”

“It is amazing,” echoed Beehler. “I hate to think what would have happened if he hadn’t stopped and done such an act of kindness on Christmas morning.”