NEW ALBANY, Ind. — The scene Steven Miller woke up to Wednesday morning in New Albany is permanently singed into his memory now.
"[I saw] our fence is on fire, neighbors coming out," Miller said. "We didn't know what happened. We didn't know what it was."
In a video the father of four shared with WHAS11, you see an unidentified man appear to start a fire in a dumpster near Miller's home around 6 a.m. You then see a bright light, accompanied by a sound loud enough to wake up the whole house.
"It was loud, it hurt our own ears, it shook the whole house," Miller said.
By Wednesday afternoon, a singed fence and melted toys sat in Miller's backyard.
Miller, who's also a foster parent, said to call the material damage a tragedy is looking at the incident the wrong way.
"I told [people] I'm not really worried about my fence; I'm not really worried about my kids' toys," he said. "I think the tragedy of the whole situation is that there was someone sleeping outside last night. Most of us were in our beds. It was warm. And someone was just trying to warm themselves. And I just thank God that he wasn't near the dumpster."
Miller said police told him a man had been apprehended for the incident -- another person, struggling to find housing, looking for heat anywhere they can find it.
A similar story played out in early December underneath an Interstate 64 overpass near downtown Louisville, except the encampment fire cost a man his life.
"It's, it's -- these people are humans and they're not talked about like their humans," Miller said, with tears in his eyes. "It's a problem."
Miller said he's thought about the issue more as of late. He hopes it can bring the "kind and good hearted" people of New Albany together to help solve the issue.
"If a concerted effort--[if] our intelligence, our resources were pulled, we could truly make a difference," Miller said. "And I'm convinced that the majority of the people in our town want to help the most vulnerable in our community."
The Operation White Flag shelter in New Albany is at the Culbertson Baptist Church on Grant Line Road.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.