California Couple 'Adopts' Veteran, 93, After Town of Paradise Burns to the Ground

A 93-year-old World War II veteran has been "adopted" by a Northern California couple after the town of Paradise was wiped off the map by devastating wildfires.

Lee Brundige doesn't know if his house is still standing, but by the looks of what is left of Paradise, it probably is not.

He had been hanging out in Oroville, about 20 miles to the south, when he encountered Tracy Grant handing out hamburgers in a parking lot filled with evacuees. Brundige told her to save the burger she held toward him for someone who truly needed it.

He could sleep in his car, he said. He wasn't totally homeless. 

Grant told him to follow her home. He was going to come stay with her and her boyfriend.

It took some real convincing on her part, but eventually, the elderly man relented.

"I tried to get him to come home with me the first night and he said, 'No, my lady days are long gone,''' Grant said. 

She didn't give up.

"My instinct was, 'He's not staying here another night by himself and I'm not taking him to a shelter and I'm not letting him go with another stranger, because there are people out there who take advantage,''' she told InsideEdition.com.

So Brundige has been living with Grant, her boyfriend, Josh Fox, and their dogs. 

One of the pups keeps Brundige company in a recliner at the couple's home. They say he is welcome to stay as long as he wants.

"Forever," said Fox. 

"These people are angels to me," Brundige said. "They bought me clothes and everything. I don't know how I'm going to thank them, but I'm going to try."

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