Houston, TX — The U.S. Postal Service has implemented an emergency suspension of the Sour Lake, TX Post Office effective immediately.

As a result of a recent fire, at the Sour Lake Post Office, the Postal Service is providing the following arrangements for customers served by that office. Beginning today, February 2, 2015 and continuing until further notice, all retail and P.O. Box operations will be conducted at the neighboring Kountze Post Office, located at 1245 S. Pine Street, Kountze TX 77625.

Customers wishing to mail items, purchase stamps or pick up parcels can do so during the hours indicated below. Additionally, Sour Lake P.O. Box customers can retrieve their mail from Kountze Post Office, effective today.

Lobby Hours at Kountze Post Office are Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm and from 10am - 12pm on Saturdays.

Customers from Sour Lake who are picking up P.O. Box mail must do so at the retail counter during normal business hours. A valid picture ID is required to pick up P.O. Box mail for Sour Lake customers. There has been no disruption to street delivery; all residential deliveries will continue to be delivered as normal. This is an emergency suspension of this office, not a permanent closure. Additional details will be provided, as they become available, regarding the reopening of this office.

For more information about postal products and services, customers may call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) or visit the Postal Service online at www.usps.com.

Customers are reminded that the Post Office is always open, 24/7 including holidays, at www.usps.com. Customers can skip the trip to the post office to mail a letter, ship a package, or purchase stamps. Additionally, postage stamps can easily be purchased at many area retail businesses, like grocery stores, drug stores and big-box stores outside of a traditional Post Office: Many area banks also provide stamps via their ATM machines.

Using usps.com, customers can look up a ZIP Code, request free Priority Mail Flat Rate packaging, hold their mail, set up Premium Forwarding Service, even print a mailing label, and pay for postage using Click-N-Ship.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

Follow us on twitter.com/USPS and like us at facebook.com/USPS. For more information about the Postal Service, go to usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.