After being the victim of break-ins several times in recent weeks, Eddie Sabbah had scheduled an appointment tomorrow to have ADT install a security system at his East Avenue home.

“I have to call them back now and tell them I have no home,” he said shaking his head this morning.

Fire broke out in his home early today. The call came in about 4:30 this morning, according to fire Capt. Joseph Pronesti. East Avenue remains blocked off between 16th Street and Wooster and will be for several hours while the Building Department comes in to demolish the house, 1254 East, which is a total loss.

Sabbah is just happy to be alive, though.

He said he would have been sleeping in the upstairs bedroom if he hadn’t been dog-sitting for a friend.

His friend, Walter Edmonds, was away in Columbus and came back to Cleveland last night but didn’t make it home till early morning he said. Sabbah fell asleep on his couch.

Pronesti said the fire apparently started in the front of Sabbah’s house and the cause remains under investigation.

Sabbah worked this morning to salvage what he could from the home — mostly clothes and toys belonging to his 18-month-old son, Vincent, who lives with him part time. He hauled out a small, older TV — his flat screen was taken, he explained, in one of the break-ins.

He suffered a heart attack five weeks ago and said he’s without his medication, also taken during one of the break-ins.

Red Cross came to the scene to assist him, but he said he plans to stay with Edmonds while he works with his insurance company to find a permanent solution.