Ray Christian thinks he might owe his life to a spur-of-the-moment decision to go deer hunting early Saturday morning.

Otherwise he might have been in bed sleeping when a fire started and heavily damaged his home at 492 E. 400 Road, west of Worden.

Shortly after 7 a.m., Christian had finished having coffee with a friend who had just left when he saw sparks coming off the roof.

“It was just starting (to burn) on the roof when I called the fire department,” said Christian, who owns J & R Construction Co., Lawrence.

More than two dozen firefighters from Osage County Rural Fire District No. 4 and Willow Springs Township Fire Department responded, along with neighbors and friends.

“There were some guys up on the inside with the fire hoses and other people dragging out furniture from the first floor,” Christian said.

Maxine Webb, who handles bookkeeping for Christian, was among friends and neighbors still at the house helping with salvage efforts several hours later.

“I don’t know how they got out as much as they did,” Webb said.

Kate Christian, who along with her husband, Gary Christian, also helped with cleanup Saturday afternoon, considered her father-in-law lucky to have survived.

Ray Christian, right, gives some directions to friends and family who are helping to load a hot tub that was heavily damaged in a fire at his home. Several volunteers showed up Saturday to help Christian salvage items after an early-morning fire at his residence on East 400 Road, near Worden.

“His bedroom was right under the chimney on the second floor,” Kate Christian said. “If he had been sleeping, I’m not sure he would have gotten out.”

Both Ray Christian and Osage County firefighter Ed Harmison think the fire started in the chimney, although the exact cause wasn’t known. Firefighters remained at the scene for about three hours, Harmison said.

No damage estimate was made. Christian said he would meet with insurance adjusters early this week.

“I’ll rebuild,” he said. “I don’t know what, but I’ll rebuild.”