Rafael Pozo, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, was wrapping up his shift earlier this month in northwest suburban Arlington Heights when he noticed something out of the ordinary: a burning garbage truck.
Pozo, the safety captain on his team, knew what he had to do -- help the driver.
"He stepped out of the vehicle and seemed to be ok, not injured. Grabbed his onboard extinguisher," Pozo recounted. "The problem is that these onboard extinguishers, they’re not going to be able to put out a fire of that size."
So, the letter carrier acted immediately and called 911.
Police officers and firefighters arrived within seven minutes. A mere four minutes later the truck exploded.
"Everything that was in the garbage went flying in all different directions," Pozo recalled. "But not only flying, these are pieces of debris that are on fire, flying through the air."
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The mail carrier warned residents to steer clear as he moved his vehicle to make sure it wasn't in the line of fire.
While a number of homes were damaged and debris was strewn across the neighborhood, no one was seriously injured -- in large part due to Pozo's actions.
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"Rafael is our hero," one neighbor said. "He called 911."
He, however, dismissed that notion.
"The firemen and the first responders, those guys are the real heroes," Pozo said.
The Arlington Heights postmaster said in a statement in part that Rafael is "an asset to the Postal Service and to this community." As a result of his actions, Pozo was nominated for the ‘Postmaster General Heroes' Award.
"When stuff like this happens, if nobody calls, nobody shows up," the mail carrier said.
