Fire officials say a Lawrence man is lucky to be alive this morning after a fire caused by an unattended candle gutted his apartment at 527 Calif. St.

The 27-year-old man left a candle burning last night in the apartment’s living room, said Mark Bradford, Deputy Chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical. The apartment did not have a smoke detector, and the man woke up about 6 a.m. and found the apartment burning and filled with smoke, Bradford said.

The man was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and first- and second-degree burns, Bradford said. The fire caused an estimated $35,000 in damage.