Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor dark of night keeps the post office from its appointed rounds.
For Ralston letter carrier Kim Hawkinson, add fire to the list.
Hawkinson was on her rounds in west-central Ralston Monday morning when she saw flames engulfing curtains in the front room of 8033 Main St., the residence of Mary Lou Smith.
"I didn't see Mary Lou anywhere," Hawkinson said. "I shouted out for her and didn't hear back, so I put my shoulder into the door and broke through. I found her and got her out of there."
Shortly after 9:35 a.m., Smith, 81, had been melting paraffin wax on her stovetop and had gone downstairs to retrieve an item. When she returned, she found a fire on the stove and smoke filling the house.
As Smith dialed 911, Hawkinson came in through the front door.
"Kim is the hero of this all," said Pam Sevick, Smith's daughter, who lives just down the street. "My mom's out. That's all that matters and we have Kim to thank."
After safely escorting Smith from the house, Hawkinson returned to try to douse the fire with a small fire extinguisher. She managed to put out most of the fire on the curtains, she said, but the kitchen blaze was raging.
A La Vista firefighter, who happened upon the scene first as he was driving in the vicinity, also attempted to extinguish the fire with the help of a garden hose, Hawkinson said.
Ralston firefighters arrived on the scene of the blaze around 9:45 a.m. and managed to contain the fire within 20 minutes, Ralston Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kyle Ienn said.
Ienn said fire damage was mostly limited to the kitchen, but smoke and water damage was found throughout the house.
"It'll be unliveable for awhile," Ienn said. "But the good news is she was home, she called 911, she got out of the house and nobody was hurt."
For her part, Hawkinson said she was just doing her duty.
"It's all just part of the job," she said, as she turned to continue her mail route up Main Street. "You'd do it for everybody. I'm just glad Mary Lou got out and is doing OK."
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