Earl "Rocky" Devereaux, 59, collapsed during the fire at 363 Lakeside Road and died shortly after noon two days later at St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, Lakeside Fire Chief Timothy Wolsey told the newspaper.
"Anybody who knows Rocky Devereaux knows that this is in his demeanor," Wolsey said. "He loved the fire service."
The man who served 15 years with the responding department responded after smelling heavy smoke from his garage down the street.
When the first fire engine arrived, he helped hook the hose up to a hydrant that sat about 150 feet away and watched from the street, according to the report.
That's when he on the front lawn and firefighters on the second engine who saw him go down administered CPR. They tried to restart his heart three times and eventually revived him.
Devereaux was transported to the hospital were he remained in critical condition before he died.
The homeowner discovered the fire while doing laundry and grabbed her two grandchildren and, along with her adult sons, escaped.
The house was gutted by the blaze and took crews close to 40 minutes to extinguish.
