Photo taken by Philadelphia Inquirer staff photographer Jose F. Moreno

Former Cheyney employee Lon Taylor was considered a neighborhood hero even before his keen perception and quick thinking saved a 55-and-over community from a dangerous gas leak on Christmas morning.

Taylor, who was profiled in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer story, ran the gas-powered steam-generating plant at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania for three and a half decades. Though he recently retired, the experience led him to be well versed in the sound and smell caused by leaking raw gas, which he detected before dawn that morning while delivering newspapers in Penn Township.

As the Inquirer reported, Taylor has delivered papers part-time for years. But on this particular morning, his quick thinking led him to call 911 right away, which likely saved multiple buildings and possibly lives.

“If he had not called, we probably would have lost the clubhouse and neighboring houses,” one of Taylor’s newspaper recipients told the Inquirer, which also noted that the neighborhood fixture has for years built relationships with those to whom he delivered papers. “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.”

Read the Philadelphia Inquirer’s full story