SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Postal worker Kyle Quillen went above and beyond his duties for one family in Cherry Hill. The National Association of Letter Carriers recently recognized him for his heroic bravery last spring, when he rescued a family from a house fire along his route.
Moments after delivering the mail to a home, Quillen noticed smoke coming from that area.
“So I start running in that direction and called 911 to let them know what was going on,” he said.
When he got to the house, Quillen said the fire was spreading rapidly and had begun to take over the front porch area. A mother, her baby and her dog couldn’t get past the blaze.
Quillen brought the dog out front while the mother and infant fled to the backyard, but they became trapped.
“I run past the fire and smoke and go back into the backyard for the woman and the baby,” said Quillen. “I grabbed the baby, I took it from her. I tuck him into my shoulder. I tell her to follow me and I grab her behind me … bring your head down, tuck it in so you don’t have to worry about the fire and the smoke.”
National Association of Letter Carriers
Firefighters soon arrived and extinguished the blaze. Everyone got out of the house safely.
Quillen said it may have been divine intervention that he was there in the first place. He was slightly behind schedule that day and wouldn’t have been in the right place at the right time if he had been further along on his route.
After talking to fire officials on the scene, Quillen went on with the rest of his mail route.
