GARY | An alert postal worker noticed smoke billowing out of a house on his East 6th Place route during Tuesday's snowstorm and called for help.

After reaching 911 and knocking on neighbors' doors, Anthony Dickerson tried to rouse the elderly woman he knew lived at 4518 E. 6th Place.

Essie Nichols grabbed her coat to go out in the cold to help because she knew in what bedroom her neighbor, Leona Rouse, slept.

"We were still knocking on the window (when firefighters came)," Nichols said. "I couldn't see in the window because of the smoke."

Gary Fire Battalion Chief James Stanton said the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen. He, along with Capt. Kevin Gibson and Lt. Jay Kaurich, found Nichols sitting unconscious in a chair in the living room. They pulled her to safety. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze, Stanton said.

As of Tuesday evening, Rouse was in the intensive care unit of Methodist Hospitals Northlake, and Dickerson was still on his route delivering the mail.

Linda Chase, manager of the Gary Miller post office, said after Dickerson got help with the fire, he called her to say he would be a little behind on his route.

"He's very observant of his surroundings," Chase said of Dickerson. "He said, 'I feel that lady is in her house. She's got to get out of that house. Should I go back in there?' like it was his own relative."