Mail truck catches fire in Edgewater; mailman treated at scene

Photos for NSBNews.net by Thomas Conroy / A mail truck caught fire Thursday in Edgewater as shown here, but the carrier saved the mail inside.

EDGEWATER -- The post office motto states: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." It doesn't say anything about the mail truck catching fire.

That is exactly what occuured in the 1400 block of Willow Oak Drive in the Florida Shores subdivision when a U.S. Postal Service carrier's mail truck caught fire while he was making his appointed rounds Thursday afternoon.

Photo at right courtesy of Edgewater Fire Services / Firefighters treated the postal carrier at the scene for minor injuries.

Here is a synopsis of what happened as reported by Edgewater Fire Services Capt. Jill Danmigel, who, along with four other firefighters, responded to a 9-1-1 call at 1:24 p.m.: "Upon arrival firefighters found a small local delivery truck fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished in less than two minutes."

Danigel continued: "The driver received minor injuries removing all of the mail from the vehicle. The driver was treated at the scene and did not require ambulance transport. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental and related to recent mechanical issues with the truck."

Photo for NSBNews.net by Thomas Conroy / Here is a shot of the mail truck before it melted the mailbox to its right.

This was the initialThomas Conroy, a senior at New Smyrna Beach High School on open campus, saw the fire, right in front of his house and snapped some dramatic photos of the flames and the aftermath.

The 17-year-old had a real interest in this incident as it occurred right in front of his family's home.

Not only was the mail truck destroyed, but so was the family's mailbox and the mail inside it.

His mom, Lynn Conroy, said the fire melted the mailbox and the contents in it.

She said the Edgewater postal officials told her she would be reimbursed the expense of buying a new mailbox.