Conifer couple tries to recover after their home is destroyed by fire

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

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

But we weren’t supposed to live there much longer.

“We had a plan, a lifelong dream: to buy a travel trailer and travel across the western United States,” Clemmer said.

That dream was shattered last week when Clemmer saw smoke for the first time on Saturday morning.

“Suddenly smoke came through the window,” he said.

At first he thought it was a forest fire, but he soon learned otherwise.

“I opened the front door and just saw a wall of flames,” Clemmer said.

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

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

Meanwhile, neighbor Ryan Smith’s security camera captured a flash of flame and a loud bang echoing through the trees.

“It sounded like someone had thrown something very heavy into a large, empty dumpster,” Smith said.

Clemmer needs oxygen tanks to breathe. The fire had hit some of his extras and they started to explode. Smith ran down the hill to try to help.

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

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

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

Smith helped a first responder carry Clemmer out of the house, where he received CPR and regained consciousness.

“If they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be here today,” Clemmer said.

Although he and his wife lost everything they owned in the fire, Clemmer hopes their dream of exploring the country together has not been lost.

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

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