A two-alarm fire Saturday afternoon in an unoccupied Manchester apartment forced evacuation of residents in two adjacent apartments, fire authorities told NBC 30.
The postman, who was delivering mail at about 12:30 p.m., smelled smoke and woke a sleeping man in the apartment next to the blaze.
He also alerted a family of three in the apartment upstairs, including a 1-year-old child who was coughing but in good condition, emergency crews at the scene said.
Nobody was hurt, and one resident called the postman a hero for getting everyone out quickly.
The fire department arrived within two minutes and put out the fire by 12:45 p.m.
The unoccupied apartment where the fire originated sustained extensive damage, but there was only smoke damage to the next-door and upstairs apartments, according to Fire Chief Robert Bycholski.
He said the upstairs family will be displaced for at least a week to distance them from any fire-related electrical problems in their unit. The Red Cross was working to find temporary housing for the couple and their child.
The man in the next-door apartment will be able to return home within hours, Bycholski told NBC 30.
He said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
