A veterinarian whose home/office caught fire as he was spaying a dog yesterday completed the surgery on a makeshift operating table in a parking lot.

Dr. Mark Jasmine and his family lived in the second floor of a converted building in the 900 block of Pittsburgh Street in Springdale Borough, also the headquarters of Jasmine Veterinary Hospital.

"I guess I have to start all over," he said of the business he has operated for two decades.

Dr. Jasmine said he had two animals in for surgery yesterday. He had just completed surgery to spay a cat. He was spaying a dog when his three sons alerted him to the fire around 11 a.m.

After evacuating the building with his boys, ages 8, 4 and 3, and the animals, Dr. Jasmine set up a makeshift operating table in the parking lot of an auto repair shop next door. That's where he finished surgery on the dog.

Police and firefighters closed Pittsburgh Street, the borough's main thoroughfare, and diverted traffic to side streets. The street remained closed hours after the fire was extinguished.

Building Inspector James Desmone said the veterinarian was in the process of adding a section to the rear of the building. However, construction was halted until Dr. Jasmine obtained a variance to allow the structure to be built closer than regulations allow to the alley behind the property.

Firefighters from the borough and township of Springdale and other communities controlled the blaze, preventing it from spreading to other properties.

The cause was under investigation by the Allegheny County fire marshal.