Conifer couple trying to recover after their home is destroyed in a fire

DENVER (KDVR) — A Jefferson County man feels lucky to be alive a week after his home burnt down. While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, he and his wife are trying to pick up the pieces after losing everything.

“A little over 13 years,” said Kevin Clemmer. That’s how long he and his wife, Trisha, lived in the house.

But the goal was to not live there for much longer.

“We had a plan of, a lifetime dream, of getting a trailer and traveling around the western United States,” Clemmer said.

That dream came undone last week when Clemmer first noticed smoke on Saturday morning.

“All the sudden there was smoke coming in the window,” he said.

His first thought was a forest fire, but he quickly learned otherwise.

“I opened the front door and there was just a wall of flame,” Clemmer said.

He called to his wife to wake up and climb out the bedroom window. She was able to get out while Clemmer dialed 911.

“The smoke was so thick she couldn’t even see me a foot from the window,” he said.

Meanwhile, next-door neighbor Ryan Smith’s security camera caught a burst of flames and a loud bang through the trees.

“Sounded like somebody had thrown something really heavy into a big, empty dumpster,” Smith said.

Clemmer requires oxygen tanks to breathe. The fire had gotten to some of his extras and they began to explode. Smith ran down the hill to try and help.

“I could see Trisha and Kevin lying on the ground,” Smith said.

Trisha had been able to get her husband through the window shortly before he passed out.

“If it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have made it,” Clemmer said.

Smith helped a first responder carry Clemmer away from the home, where he received CPR and regained consciousness.

“They hadn’t have done that, I wouldn’t have been here today,” Clemmer said.

While he and his wife lost everything they owned in the fire, Clemmer hopes their dream of exploring the country together wasn’t lost as well.

“Ideally, we’d like to live that dream,” Clemmer said. “If it works out, it works out.”

The Clemmers also lost a dog and two cats to the fire. Their neighbors have set up a GoFundMe to help the couple.