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St. Paul police officer goes inside a house fire to save four kids

Officer Bill Beaudette noticed a cloud of smoke in the area and immediately rushed to the duplex to make sure no one was trapped inside.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Thursday seemed like just another day at work for Officer Bill Beaudette of the St. Paul Police Department.

But then he noticed smoke in the sky.

His instincts told him to go check out the area over by Case Avenue and Forest Street. 

When he got closer to the source of the smoke, Officer Beaudette realized it was coming from a house fire. He then called for help from the St. Paul Fire Department, St. Paul PD's said in a Facebook post.

Officer Beaudette was able to help someone get outside from the upper level. After assisting the first person, he didn't want to take any chances of potentially leaving another resident inside the smoking house.

Credit: St. Paul Police Department

So, Beaudette "kicked the door open and found four children inside," all ranging from three to seven years old, the post says. He then brought all the children back to safety to reunite with their father.

St. Paul Fire soon arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire inside the family's home.

Beaudette, who is a 29-year law enforcement veteran, "was in the right place, at the right time, and was able to change the course of this event for this family," the department said.

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