A GRANDFATHER in Colorado narrowly escaped a house fire last month after a curtain caught flames and started to engulf the home.
On August 29, Peters Richardville and his family gathered to celebrate his 88th birthday.
According to KALB, ten family members were inside the home when a small candle caused a curtain to catch on fire.
Images from a Nest security camera show Peters eating his lunch as the flames grew.
His grandson, Aaron Richardville, told the outlet that his grandfather has dementia.
Aaron called the incident the “most frightening thing” he had ever been through.
“It just did not register for him,” Aaron said. “He did not realize the danger, and that is just the way that dementia works.”
A family member was able to get Peters out of the room after returning to grab her purse.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get in here if it was 30 seconds later,” Aaron said.
Approximately two minutes later, the whole house became engulfed in the fire.
Aaron believes if he took the time to check his safety equipment, the fire might not have escalated the way it did, KALB reported.
“It was a plug-in smoke detector,” he said. “Maybe it got unplugged? Had that smoke detector worked that was setting on the table right there, we would have known about it right at that point.
“I have had that fire extinguisher sitting there on the floor in the same space for three years. I had never thought to look at it.”
Aaron added that he will never light a candle in his home again.
