CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) — A mailman went from delivering letters to possibly saving lives in Cheektowaga.
Kashif Hakim, a National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 3 postal worker, rushed into a smoke-filled apartment building on Slate Creek Drive last month alerting residents to evacuate.
Hakim was delivering mail at the Idylwood Resort Apartments when he saw smoke spewing from building 34. He rushed in without a second thought.
“My dad being a cop and my mom being a nurse, I kind of just sprung into action,” he said. “I was a CNA for a while, so it’s kind of in my blood I guess to help.”
Hakim has been a postal worker for just over seven months, yet he experienced something carriers with more years on the job never have: an active fire at his delivery spot.
“I see a lady struggling to hold a cat and I’m like ‘Hmmm,’ so as I watch the lady go back into the building, I see just smoke come out,” Hakim said. “I’m like ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ and she’s like, ‘It’s a fire and I got two more cats and a bird in there.’”
In a split-second decision, he ran into the building and banged on the doors of 12 different units, telling residents to evacuate