GRAVETTE -- Michelle Howard, a Gravette rural mail carrier, doesn't think of herself as a heroine. But she recently performed an heroic act during the course of her daily routine. Howard was delivering mail along her route, which runs east out of Gravette into the Centerton city limits, early last month. She was on Noah Road east of Gravette when she noticed an alarming sight.
Smoke was billowing out from under the eaves of a house. Howard took a closer look and saw that dry leaves in the yard were on fire and the flames were only about 10 feet from the house. She was blocked from entering the front of the house because the fire was burning between her and the door.
Howard honked her horn in an attempt to alert the homeowner. "She sometimes comes to the door when I have packages to deliver and I honk," Howard explained. However, on this day, there was no response to her signal.
Knowing her customer had relatives living down the road, Howard drove down and told them. The relatives called the fire department and soon had firefighters on the scene to quench the fire. By the time they arrived, the siding on the house was on fire.
Howard later learned that the lady who lived in the house was inside asleep. She won't brag on her exploits, but all involved agree that she really saved the day. Had she not come along and discovered the fire when she did, the results could have been disastrous. The house could have been much more severely damaged and the fire could have even resulted in injury or possibly loss of life to the homeowner.
Gerald Garner, Gravette postmaster, has high praise for Howard's work. "She's one of our best carriers," Garner said, "and always does an excellent job. She takes good care of her customers."
A short conversation with Howard revealed that this was not the first time that she has been responsible for reporting a fire recently. Just a week before the Noah Road incident, she was delivering mail and discovered a fire on Highway 59 south of Gravette. It was only about 20 yards from some chicken houses and she was concerned because it was a windy day. When she failed to find anyone at the house, she called 911 and alerted firefighters to the situation.
In this case the owner of the property was away from home at the time of the fire. He said he had been burning a brush pile about three days before. He thought the fire was completely out but apparently the high winds had reignited some of the embers.
Howard, who lives with her husband Gary on Highway 59 south of Gravette, has been with the postal service for 19 years. She was a substitute carrier for five years before becoming full-time carrier on her current route. The fact that Gary is retired from the Decatur Fire Department, where he was a volunteer for 22 years, makes her more aware of the dangers of fire.
"We know all too well how fast a fire can spread on a windy day and how bad the results can be when a fire is burning out of control," she said.
General News on 04/01/2015