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Don Smith went into a burning apartment without any of his usual firefighting gear — no heavy coat or pants, no boots, helmet, flash hood or air supply.

The district fire chief was wearing only his uniform dress shirt and pants. But there was a little girl missing, trapped in a smoke-filled apartment.

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“You do what you have to do,” he said later.

He went straight in.

Smith was the only firefighter at the burning apartment on Caldwell Avenue Saturday, because the crews from his station were fighting another fire. Trucks from a station farther away hadn’t arrived yet.

Four times he went into the smoke. Three times it drove him back.

The fourth time he emerged with a two-year-old girl named Neva, who was unconscious and not breathing.

But on Wednesday, thanks to his rescue, she was released from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Smith retires at the end of this month, when he turns 60. He’ll step down with extra good wishes from all around.