Fairhaven letter carrier Karl Sovik was making the rounds Thursday afternoon when he noticed something strange: smoke, and then flames, climbing up the wall of a house.
"How can we not keep our eyes open? We know our customers. We know who's familiar and not familiar, and we know what's right and what's wrong," Sovik said Friday.
What was wrong at the home on Magnolia Avenue was an electrical outlet on the deck that had shorted out, sparking a fire.
"Saw smoke on the back side of the house. I investigated, and I knew nobody was home. When I saw flames, I called 911," Sovik said.
Firefighters arrived at the home within three minutes of getting that 911 call. But they say the mailman helped to keep the flames under control until they arrived.
Sovik grabbed a garden hose and started attacking the fire himself.
"The fire department said he had pretty much of it out by the time they got here," homeowner Bruce Bessette said.
Bessette said Sovik even freed his dog from the backyard, just in case the flames spread.
"I owe him a lot. I mean, it could have been a lot worse," Bessette said.
"For every minute a fire is allowed to burn, it will double in size. So the first one, two, three minutes of a fire is really important as to how far of a head start it's going to get," said Wayne Oliveira, of the Fairhaven Fire Department.
Firefighters said Sovik's efforts kept the flames from moving inside the house.
"If it had been allowed to burn for much more, it would have really latched on to some of the timbers in the basement," Oliveira said.
With the damage contained to the exterior, Bessette was able to stay inside his home.
"Yeah, this was a little above and beyond. I guess he's multi-tasking. Mailman, firefighter," Bessette said.
Grateful to his letter carrier for delivering when it really mattered.
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