A Rensselaer County emergency dispatcher, who is also an Eagle Mills firefighter, noticed a house fire while on his way to work Tuesday and called 911 while he awoke and evacuated the male occupant of the home.

One of the Rensselaer County 911 dispatchers was on his way to work and noticed the fire, Speigletown Fire Chief Michael Shanahan said, identifying the caller as Melrose resident David Beaudoin. Shanahan said Beaudoin pounded on the door of 99 Leversee Road to alert the resident, whose name was not available. "I just did what I was trained to do. I would do the same thing again if I was asked to", said Beaudoin, 39, who has been a firefighter since age 18 and has worked as a county dispatcher since 2001. He said he saw smoke, then flames coming from the garage. When he noticed a car in the driveway, Beaudoin locked up his trucks brakes and pulled over. Leaping from the truck, he dialed 911 with one hand and started pounding on the door of the home with the other. He was soon joined at the scene by another firefighter, Jerry Simon, who was on his way to work at the county Highway Department when he saw what was happening and stopped to help, Beaudoin said. By then, the male resident had answered the door and was talked out of going back inside to rescue his possessions.

Shanahan, who said he was the incident commander at the fire scene, said between 30 and 40 Pleasantdale, Center Brunswick, Melrose, Johnsonville and Schaghticoke firefighters responded. It took about an hour to knock down the fire, the chief said, but the home was left a total loss. The structures still standing, but its not going to be livable.

While firefighters battled the blaze, which apparently began in a one-bay garage attached to the south side of the two-bedroom single-story home, the flames threatened to infringe on a neighboring home. The family that lives in the adjoining home was temporarily evacuated as a precaution, the chief said, but damage was limited to melted siding. Based on a two-hour investigation that began after the flames were extinguished, Rensselaer County fire investigators believe the fire may have been caused by a cigarette, Shanahan said. According to the chief, the male resident gave a statement that said he went out to his garage at about 5 a.m. to smoke and pitched the butt into a plastic bucket he had placed just inside the garage doorway and then went back to sleep. Beaudoin, who has lived in Melrose for two years, said he was at the fire scene for a while, but was later able to report to work. He eventually punched out to go home at 11 p.m.