A man left homeless by fire is convinced the blaze that gutted his Barnhartvale home was no accident.

“I’ve got nothing now. I’m homeless now. I was just the caretaker,” said Patrick Ruddell, 43.

Ruddell stood beside an ambulance in his long johns and watched as firefighters battled the flames at 888 Klahanie Dr. By then, the roof had caved in and only a burned skeleton of wood stood where the carport used to be.

Ruddell was sleeping when his roommate woke him up in a panic Sunday afternoon. He said the roommate, whom he identified as Mark, told him someone was waving his arms in front of the house and yelling at him to get out.

Ruddell ran from the bedroom and opened the door to the carport, where he was met by a whoosh of flames that quickly burned inside, he said.

“I opened the door and the flames just came in. I just got out,” said Ruddell. “My roommate ran out the back.”

Ruddell ducked down as he described how he ran through the burning carport to the street. Mark backed his truck out of the carport because he had propane tanks in the back and was afraid the fire would set them off, he said.

“It would have been like a bomb,” said Ruddell.

Paramedics tended to Mark, who suffered burns to one arm. Mark declined to comment and would not provide his last name.

The men lost everything in the fire. Ruddell said the home is a rental that a financial company has foreclosed on.

He said there was a sofa, barbecue “and other junk” in the carport, but nothing that could spark a fire. Although he has no proof, Ruddell believes someone set the fire.

“The house was in good shape,” he said.

Fire chief Neill Moroz said a fire inspector will visit the site today. Fire and rescue’s attention Sunday was focused on putting out the blaze.

Firefighters were dispatched at 3:10 p.m. Flames and smoke shot from structure when crews arrived. Battalion chief Duncan Harvey said 17 firefighters from three halls fought the fire.

The home was fully engulfed and the situation too dangerous to send firefighters inside. Instead, crews encircled the outside and fired water at the house, said Harvey.

Fire and rescue was at the scene into the evening.