BELLAIRE — Bellaire Village Council on Thursday recognized resident Diane Duda and police Officer J.J. Watson for their quick thinking and response during the double house fire on Franklin Street earlier this month.

“Your sense of community and aid for fellow citizens is commendable,” Clerk Tom Sable read from Police Chief Dick Flanagan’s statement to Duda.

He added that Duda’s efforts in assisting Watson during the June 11 fire by knocking on doors and alerting people freed the officer to further concentrate on the most immediate danger and assist a mother and her adolescent son who were inside the burning house.

“Some in this nation chose to manipulate events to try to divide us. I choose to focus on that which unites us,” Flanagan wrote, speaking of the cooperation of citizens and public servants to save lives. “(The response) underscores the traditional basic goodness of our community.”

“I’d just like to think that any caring human being would do this,” Duda said.

Watson was not present at the council meeting where Duda was recognized.

A house and a duplex were both damaged in the blaze.