A Milton home was damaged in a fire on Christmas Day.
According to fire officials, the fire took place on West Milton Road in Milton.
The fire was contained to the living room and was able to be extinguished fairly quickly, but officials say the home sustained 'severe damages' from the blaze.
The father of the home was inside at the time of the fire and sustained minor burns. Other members of the family, a mother and her children, weren't home when the fire occurred.
"If my kids were here, they sleep in the back, there would've been no way I could have got to them," Jeremy Leblanc said.
Leblanc said he was about to take a shower when he suddenly smelled smoke. Moments later his living room was engulfed in flames.
"I'm naked when this happens. I'm trying to think, 'What do I do?' I grab my phone, my jeans, tried grabbing valuables. I was just going to start throwing things into the front yard. When I opened the door, the oxygen caught that fire, it hit me so hard, it threw me off the porch," Leblanc explained.
Milton and Youngsville Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the fire, with the Lafayette Fire Department continuing the investigation.
The investigation is ongoing, but officials say a lit candle was possibly a contributing factor to the cause of the fire.
"We're just not sure if the glass broke, or the open flame ignited something nearby," Alton Trahan with the Lafayette Fire Department said.
Trahan says it is not uncommon for candles in a glass jar to explode. When shopping for candles, search for the brand online and read reviews to find out if there have been any recalls. He also suggest keeping candles on hard flat surfaces such as a metal plate or a stove top.
"You never want to leave a room with an open candle, or where a candle is burning," added Trahan. "You want to keep it on a hard surface not near any combustibles that can ignite."
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Leblanc family and can be found here.
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