On Wednesday, Ronnie Beddington was a distant neighbor.

Thursday morning, he was the kind of neighbor that makes theneighborhood.

The 23-year-old construction worker formally met hisacross-the-highway neighbor for the first time Wednesday night whenhe pulled 47-year-old Michelle Brooks from the window of herburning home and carried her to safety. Beyond the casual wave andnod from 100 feet away, his life-saving action that night was thefirst time he had crossed Highway 51 to meet the Brookses.

“Sad to say that was the first time I met them,” Beddingtonsaid. “I’d rather not meet people in those circumstances.”

Beddington was settling in for the night when his sister-in-law,19-year-old Lesley Allen, sounded the alarm that Brooks’ 1876pinewood home on Beech Street was on fire.

“I shot across the road and about the time I got up to thewindow, all I saw was a hand. I pulled her up out of the window,got her back from the blaze and that was about it,” he said. “Ittook every bit of two or three minutes for the house to beengulfed. If I would have got there two minutes later, it wouldn’thave worked out so well.”

Witnesses and firefighters confirmed the fire in Brooks’134-year-old fat lighter pine home went from a flicker to aninferno in under five minutes. Beddington said flames were alreadybreaking through the roof when he arrived and had covered it whenhe took Brooks to safety.

He was the first person to arrive at the fire, and was creditedwith saving Brooks’ life. She fell down in tears and hugged him inthanks as the home burned behind them.

“It’s a humbling experience. I’ve never had to deal withsomething like that,” Beddington said. “I don’t really call myselfa hero. It was just sheer reaction.”

Beddington stayed on the scene until around 10 p.m. He hadtrouble falling asleep.

“Just thinking about life, how precious it is. It was excitingand scary at the same time,” he said.

Before he saved a life, Beddington said he was a very shyperson. He grew up a little Wednesday night.

“I plan on getting out and talking to my neighbors and gettingto know them,” he said.