UPS driver Paul Pereira spotted flames leaping across a front porch of a house along his route in Haverhill while making his final delivery Monday. "I just ran over, banged on the door, told the people in the house, 'Your house (is) on fire!'" he said. Brian Lavender, the homeowner, said his wife and daughter were inside the house at the time. They thought the smell was someone in the neighborhood using a grill."The next thing she knows, there was banging (and) 'Fire, fire, fire get out,'" Lavender said."They weren't aware the house was on fire," Pereira explained.A neighbor's cellphone video shows Pereira asking for a garden hose, then climbing onto the porch to face the flames up close."I didn't realize how big the flames were until saw the video myself," he said. "By the time the fire department showed up, he had knocked down the fire. Had he not been there, that entire porch would have been engulfed," said Peter Brown, a neighbor. During his rounds Wednesday, Pereira got a big hug from Tracy Lavender. The family is in the process of buying the home and their gratitude is immeasurable. "I don't feel I am a hero. I think anybody would do it if they saw a fire, you know, act on it," Periera said.

UPS driver Paul Pereira spotted flames leaping across a front porch of a house along his route in Haverhill while making his final delivery Monday.

"I just ran over, banged on the door, told the people in the house, 'Your house (is) on fire!'" he said.




Brian Lavender, the homeowner, said his wife and daughter were inside the house at the time. They thought the smell was someone in the neighborhood using a grill.

"The next thing she knows, there was banging (and) 'Fire, fire, fire get out,'" Lavender said.



"They weren't aware the house was on fire," Pereira explained.



A neighbor's cellphone video shows Pereira asking for a garden hose, then climbing onto the porch to face the flames up close.

"I didn't realize how big the flames were until saw the video myself," he said.

"By the time the fire department showed up, he had knocked down the fire. Had he not been there, that entire porch would have been engulfed," said Peter Brown, a neighbor.

During his rounds Wednesday, Pereira got a big hug from Tracy Lavender. The family is in the process of buying the home and their gratitude is immeasurable.

"I don't feel I am a hero. I think anybody would do it if they saw a fire, you know, act on it," Periera said.