Letter Carrier James Goeke was about to deliver mail to an apartment building in Freeport, IL, recently when he saw smoke pouring from a unit’s windows.
He rushed inside to see if anyone was at home, knocking loudly on the door until a tenant answered, apparently disoriented by the smoke and fumes coming from a couch that was ablaze.
Goeke helped the woman to safety outside while a neighbor called 911.
Firefighters soon arrived and rescued another woman and a dog from the unit.
The women had been asleep and “the outcome may not have been a happy ending” without Goeke’s quick response, said local Postmaster Deborah Graves.