TWIN LAKES, Wis. — A Coast Guard veteran reached out to TMJ4 after a devastating house fire in Twin Lakes left him with nowhere to go and with smoke inhalation injuries.

James Champagne barely escaped the Saturday night blaze that destroyed his home and killed his cat. He was in the shower when his roommate's screams alerted him to the danger.

"That's when my roommate started screaming, 'There's a fire. Get out of the house. Get out of the house.' So I jumped out of the shower, and it was just above, above here. You could not see anything, pitch black smoke," Champagne said.

The flames had already begun consuming the structure by the time he made his escape.

"There was already flames shooting out of that door. Three foot of flames," Champagne said.

TMJ4 spoke with Champagne briefly be

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