Man climbs building to help put out fire

Liu Jianjun, a 92-year-old in Changsha, Hunan province, recently wrote a three-page thank you letter to express her gratitude to Guo Shugao, a local mailman who bravely climbed up to the second floor of the building where Liu lives to help put out an accidental fire that started in her kitchen, Guangming Daily reported on Monday.

The incident began at around 10 am on Oct 11. Guo was busy delivering newspapers in the Wangyuehu community when he noticed smoke rising from a kitchen on the second floor of a building. As he had been working in the residential area for over 10 years, he knew the fire was from an old couple – Liu and her husband.

At the same time, neighbors and community workers also observed the fire and dialed 119. While waiting for help to arrive, people knocked on the door and called the couple, but there was no response.

As the Wangyuehu community is an old neighborhood with complex electrical circuits, the fire must be put out as soon as possible before consequences spiral out of control.

Without a second thought, Guo rushed to the second floor and broke the window with a stone. He braced himself between the pipes on the outer wall, freeing his hands to hold a fire extinguisher passed up by others standing on top of a car nearby, and began spraying extinguishing powder through the window.

After putting out the fire, Guo got on his motorcycle and rode away without leaving his name.

Liu, who has poor hearing, knew nothing about the whole process until the fire was extinguished. Her husband has trouble moving around, and she was stewing peanuts with a pressure cooker in the kitchen but forgot to turn the gas off, which later caused the fire.

"It's nothing worth mentioning," Guo said. "I was touched by the letter. But I will always help however I can."