Tragedy struck a North Park residence Tuesday in a fatal fire, but a postal worker may have helped save multiple lives with her quick thinking.
Ravenswood-resident Lucy Vasquez was walking her route Tuesday when she said she noticed something amiss in the residence in the 5200 block of North Bernard.
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WATCH HERE“I delivered the mail when I start smelling something no good,” she said. “And I ran inside and started ringing the doorbells.”
While she was inside, Vasquez said she encountered a mother and her two young children. Acting quickly, she grabbed the two children and brought them outside to her postal truck.
“I grabbed the two kids, I came outside holding the two kids,” she said. “They were on me, hugging me. I told them ‘don’t worry.’”
Before she could reenter the building, she said she heard a loud explosion, which shattered several windows and sent flames shooting from the building.
Firefighters were quickly on-scene after that explosion, but the resulting blaze claimed the life of a 19-year-old woman and left a 45-year-old man injured.
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Vasquez said she mourns the victim lost in the fire, but is at least grateful her actions helped to keep several other residents safe.
“(I was here) at the right time, God bless me I was at the right time,” she said. “Otherwise the lady stays inside with the kids and who knows, who knows.”
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SIGN UP The family came outside to thank Lucy as she made her rounds on Wednesday, and other neighbors also stopped to thank her while she was on her route.
Showing her dedication, Lucy finished her route after Tuesday’s fire, the United States Postal Service told NBC Chicago.
