PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The U.S. Postal Service said a mail truck was destroyed and multiple packages were lost after the vehicle caught fire Monday in Port St. Lucie.
The fire occurred just before 12:30 p.m. in the 500 block of Northwest Peacock Boulevard, according to USPS spokeswoman Debra J. Fetterly.
The letter carrier was able to escape the fast-moving blaze unharmed.
However, 148 packages and all of the mail, except for one piece, were destroyed by the fire, Fetterly said.
The surviving piece of mail, which appeared to be a birth certificate, flew out of the truck when the vehicle caught fire.
Fetterly said this piece of mail was partially burned, but a mail supervisor was able to read the address and hand-deliver it to the customer.
Officials said the postmaster is sending each customer a letter of apology and instructions on what to do if they had mail or packages that may have been destroyed in the fire.
"We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience due to this incident. As an organization, our employees take all possible actions to protect and safeguard the mail from damage. Unfortunately, there are instances such as this one, when the safety and well-being of our employees must take precedent. Thankfully, our employee was able to escape injury," Fetterly said in a written statement.