PEYTON, COLO. -- A Peyton man fights for his life after being trapped in a house fire.
The fire happened just before 11 a.m. Friday south of Peyton near Judge Orr Road and Peyton Highway.
The man who lived at the home is wheelchair-bound.
When a neighbor noticed his house was on fire he rushed into the flames to save the man's life, according to neighbors.
Dry gusty winds were already blowing when the home near Peyton caught fire.
The homeowner was so badly burned he had to airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
"I was scared at first, then I kinda calmed down once I noticed things were started to get under control," 14-year-old neighbor Robby Easterlin said.
Easterlin was home alone when he noticed his neighbor's house burning.
Fire investigators are still trying to figure out if the fire started in a field and spread to the house or the other way around.
"When I looked, the house was on fire, and then the house next to it there was a grass fire in that yard, but it could have started there, I don't know, Easterlin said."
Easterlin called his dad at work to tell him what was happening.
"I called, and I was like 'I don't know what to do,' so I called him and told him there was a fire, and he told me to call him when it started spreading," Easterlin said.
Fire crews said the man who saved his neighbor was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Meanwhile Easterlin is left to think about what might have happened.
"I know I'd be devastated if our house was burned down," Easterlin said.
The home is a total loss.
The fire also burned several nearby fields before crews could get it out.
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Original story:
A house fire in the 19000 block of Oasis Avenue in Peyton left one man in critical condition and spread to multiple properties Friday.
El Paso County Sheriff's Office officials said a Memorial Star helicopter transported the resident of the house, who is in a wheelchair, to the hospital. He is in critical condition after being airlifted to the hospital shortly before 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Neighbors said another neighbor went into the house and rescued the man from the flames. That neighbor was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries but is in stable condition.
Officials said a neighbor called in the fire around 10:47 a.m., and it wasn't contained until about 12:10 p.m.
Officials also conducted a reverse 911 around 11:30 to residents within a one mile radius of the fire to warn them about high winds and dry conditions being reasons why the fire could spread quickly. Evacuations were voluntary, but evacuees were told they could return to their homes just before 1 p.m.
Crews from the Peyton, Ellicott, Falcon, Calhan and Tri-County fire departments were on scene.
The house is a total loss, and the fire also burned nearby properties after jumping a road because of high winds and dry conditions.
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