Fire has destroyed a two-story home that was used as a Civil War hospital in this east central Mississippi town.

Horace “Buddy” Hunt Jr. said he was napping upstairs Thursday and left something cooking on the stove downstairs. He awoke to smoke and flames coming up the back of the home. His escape blocked, Hunt went to the second floor balcony on the front of the home where he was rescued by residents with a ladder.

“I was visiting my aunt when I heard somebody hollering for help,” Gloria Lafferty said. “I came outside and saw the house on fire and a man standing on the balcony. Some people ran to a workshop and got a ladder so he could climb down.”

As firefighters battled the blaze, Hunt thought about 40 years of memorabilia still inside the home.

“There are about 40,000 records, tapes and CDs of classical music in there,” said Hunt, wiping sweat from his forehead. “My father was an original member of the Meridian Symphony. Classical music was my passion.”