00:00A mailman drove around a town burnt down by the wildfires, and he had no idea he was on
00:06camera.
00:14The perfect storm was brewing in Northern California in 2017, but it was a storm in
00:19the traditional sense.
00:21Instead, the land had become so incredibly dry that officials knew a wildfire could easily
00:25spark, and it could spread rapidly once it was alight.
00:29Their worst fears were realized by October 9th when multiple fires ignited and quickly
00:34grew.
00:35Some blazes spread to cover 20,000 acres in flames in a single day.
00:39By the time the blaze ended, the end of the month marked the end of the fires, almost 9,000
00:45buildings and thousands of acres of land had been burned and destroyed.
00:49In the midst of the quick-moving fires, thousands of Californians were forced to evacuate.
00:54Many had minutes to do so before the flames arrived unannounced on their doorsteps.
00:58With most residents gone then, it was a shock to see one local sticking around and soldiering
01:03on.
01:04The mailman.
01:05As this one particular driver traveled through burnt-down neighborhoods, he likely had no
01:10idea that anyone was watching, since so many had evacuated and most homes appeared to be
01:15destroyed to a point where they were no longer inhabitable.
01:18But the mailman was on camera, and the actions shown were unbelievable, considering the condition
01:24of his delivery route.
01:26Photographer Douglas Thrawn had decided to capture the devastation left in the wake of
01:31the 2017 Northern California wildfires in Santa Rosa.
01:35It looks like a nuclear bomb just got dropped on the neighborhood, he told Inside Edition,
01:39which featured his footage on its show.
01:42His description is not far off.
01:44The foundations of many homes still stand, but everything else has turned to ash.
01:48Melted garage doors lay on driveways, and some even lean on the destroyed cars they were
01:53meant to protect.
01:54This particular storm stood out to Thrawn, who had plenty of experience filming natural
01:59disasters.
02:00He told the Mercury News,
02:02I've covered wildfires and floods before and I've never seen anything like it.
02:06I'd see areas that were totally fine, but then get to other areas and see them wiped
02:10out.
02:11It was unbelievable.
02:13Clearly, the fire and the footage of its aftermath was noteworthy enough, but then Thrawn
02:18saw movement.
02:19It was the mailman's bright white truck zipping down the barren streets, making the
02:24footage caught by his drone even more incredible to watch.
02:28Against such a bleak backdrop, all of a sudden you see this mail truck driving down the street,
02:32Thrawn said, describing the scenes he'd captured.
02:35It just seemed surreal.
02:37It was like the last little piece of life on Earth.
02:40The reason the footage was so surreal as Thrawn described it?
02:44The mailman behind the wheel was continuing to drop off and pick up mail.
02:48Sometimes he visited mailboxes left in front of homes that were completely flattened by the
02:52fires.
02:53Thrawn posted the video of the mailman one day after capturing the footage.
02:57It too spread quickly across the internet.
03:00More than 1.6 million people have watched the incredible aerial footage of a mailman sticking
03:05to his job in the midst of a national disaster.
03:08With the spotlight shining on the Santa Rosa Postal Service, the bosses there at last recognize
03:14the driver of the truck as Trevor Smith.
03:16According to Inside Edition, many have since dubbed Smith the most dedicated mailman ever.
03:22The part of Smith's route shown in the footage was actually part of a senior mobile home park,
03:26and he was familiar with some of the residents along his route.
03:29They had asked him to try and deliver their mail, in case they were permitted to go back to
03:33their properties.
03:34So, for Smith, delivering to the devastated neighborhood was just a way to fulfill the
03:38promise he'd made.
03:40I followed my route like I normally do, he said.
03:43He hoped to find houses where mailboxes were still standing.
03:46Not only did he find what he was looking for, but they were filled, and not with the ash and
03:51debris he might have expected.
03:53As I'd come across a box that was out but with no house, I checked and there was mail,
03:58outgoing mail, in it, Smith said.
04:01And the pattern continued as he continued on his route through the burned-down neighborhood.
04:06The next day when I delivered, there was, again, outgoing mail in that box, he said.
04:10For Smith, that was reason enough to stick to his schedule, despite the chaos that surrounded
04:15him.
04:16It's important that we continue because we're part of that community.
04:19They trust us, and we want to fulfill that trust by carrying on, Smith said.
04:24Other members of the U.S. Postal Service echoed this sentiment when asked about the Santa
04:28Rosa Postman's dedication.
04:30San Francisco District Manager Naomi Luna released a statement regarding Smith,
04:34which said,
04:36This is an example of the long-standing relationship that has been established between our carriers
04:40and their customers, based on trust.
04:43His type of dependability will be what many Californians need as they continue to rebuild
04:48after the devastating fighters.
04:50In Santa Rosa alone, Smith's mail delivery territory, nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed, including
04:57mansions, mobile homes, and single-family dwellings.
04:59And yet, he stuck to his root, restoring a sense of normalcy to the world around him.
05:05The unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service says,
05:08Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion
05:14of their appointed rounds.
05:15It seems as though Smith continues to take those words to heart.
