LEWISTON - Mail carrier Wayne Viger remembers vividly the afternoon he stepped into the burning apartment on Knox Street in search of people. It was April 3, 2006, and he was at the end of his route.

Smoke was pouring from the building and alarms were sounding inside. Viger believed an elderly woman was inside her first-floor apartment.

"I pushed open the door and I went in the kitchen," he said. "This woman came out of the living room. The living room was filled with thick, thick smoke. It was like a dream. She came out of that thick smoke and she was on fire. Her clothes were on fire."

Viger, 55, smothered the flames that were burning the woman's clothing and got her outside. He told her to wait a safe distance from the burning building at 66 Knox St.

"I knew she had a boyfriend," Viger said. "I thought he had to be in there."

He called the post office from a number he remembered easily from his 30 years as a postal carrier. The information was relayed to the fire station and Viger went back into the first-floor apartment.

"The smoke was so thick. I held my breath and thought, 'I can't suck any of that in'" he said. "I went in there and I started to disappear into the smoke."

Viger was forced to flee the apartment after finding nobody inside. He checked on the second and third floors as well. After further chaos and encountering a stairwell full of smoke, Viger left the building and the Fire Department took over.

Viger told his story Tuesday night while awaiting a twilight tour of Washington, D.C., with some prominent politicians. He was there to accept an award: He's been named National Hero of the Year by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The award ceremony is Thursday. Before then, a lot of people in D.C. want a piece of Viger's time, including U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.

"I'm thinking, man, they got the wrong guy," Viger said of the attention. "I figured I was just doing my job."

Carmen Palardy, the 72-year-old woman Viger saved the afternoon of the fire, survived with singed hair and a blackened face. The blaze was believed to have been caused by an electrical short in her apartment.

Seven people were left homeless as a result.

On Thursday, National Association of Letter Carriers President William H. Young will present Viger's hero award at a special ceremony at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is scheduled to address the gathering.

"As they walk and ride through every neighborhood in America every day, letter carriers are often the first on the scene when tragedy strikes," Young said. "These men and women follow in the tradition of coming to the aid of those in need, often at risk of personal danger."