Photo: Getty Images North America
For 8 years now, Juan Carlos Ocasio has been out on the road, delivering the mail. Every delivery day, he has covered all 44 miles of his rural mail route over in West Pasco County. That's 44 miles and around 650 stops each day. He knows many people on the route due to seeing them and delivering their parcels for almost a decade. He likes to think of many of them as part of his extended family. So it was no surprise that he sprang into action when there was trouble near one of their homes.
Back on August 29th, Ocasio noticed smoke coming from behind a fence in the Moon Lake neighborhood in a spot where he knows kids sometimes play. So he investigated further and he discovered that a shed was on fire. The fire was very close to the mobile home of Tyler Salyers' family, so Ocasio rushed to alert them.
Because of the mail carrier's quick thinking, the Salyers were spared from the fire and now they’re crediting Ocasio with saving the six family members' lives.
In recognition of his bravery, Ocasio has been nominated for the Postmaster General Heroes' Program, celebrating postal workers' exceptional community contributions.
Read more from Bay News 9 HERE.