WASHINGTON —  Letter carrier Alan Girard neared the end of his route Oct. 6 when he noticed smoke and an orange glow in an apartment at a senior citizens center. He rushed in, pulled the fire alarm and began knocking on doors to alert residents.

Four other carriers quickly arrived at the scene and helped rescue nearly 100 people from the blaze in Oakland, Calif. One elderly resident died in the fire.

On Sept. 18 the five Californians will share the annual "Hero of the Year" award from the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Along with Girard of Fremont, the honorees are Rick Quinonez of Hayward, Gilbert Rangel of Vacaville, Tonya Joseph of El Sobrante and Karen Hill of America Canyon.

Other awards presented by the union include:

_ National Humanitarian of the Year, to David Lundy of High Point, N.C., for his year-long work with his wife to obtain nursing home care for an elderly patron.

_ Rhonda Russell of New York City earned the Special Carrier Alert Award for warning officials about an identity theft case. She noticed a volume of credit card mail in the name of an 85-year-old woman who had been in a nursing home for several months.

_ Paul Gereffi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was named Eastern Region Hero for helping subdue a disgruntled man who assaulted his boss with a steak knife.

_ Dean Dunkel of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Central Region Hero, for crawling inside a partially submerged car and rescuing the driver after she skidded off the road and into a creek during a torrential rain storm.

_ Raymond Rivera Jr. of San Antonio, Texas, was named Western Region Hero for rescuing two little girls who were attacked by a pair of pit bulls as the girls played near his home.

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