RACINE - A little candle is blamed for a big fire in Racine. Fire fighters rescued one man from a blaze that destroyed part of an apartment building at 11th and College. If you look at the second story apartment, you can see where smoke and flames ravaged the apartment. "I was just lying in bed after watching the football game," Lee Johnson said A rude awakening for Lee Johnson: he escaped this fire that trapped his neighbor. "He stuck his head out the window and that's how he got out. They put a ladder up to the window and got him out safely," Johnson said. The heat so intense it melted the shutters. Investigators believe a candle left burning by a 54-year-old taking a shower started this. "Fire spread to a second unit, for that reason and the volume of the fire, we called extra companies. We had every fire company, save one in the city at this fire," Kevin Bush of the Racine Fire Department said. Fire fighters put out the blaze before it could spread to the Plymouth Congregational Church next door and nearby houses, but for awhile, the nine residents of the apartment building including Lee Johnson will be without a home. "When I used to see it on TV it's different. Now that I see it in person and it's happening to me, it's devastating," Johnson said. A construction expert says there may be substantial damage to the structure. It may be weeks or even months before people can return to their homes. The man rescued by fire fighters went to a hospital suffering from minor smoke inhalation. Investigators say he should be fine.