A Connecticut man allegedly held captive and starved by his stepmother for more than two decades escaped the small room he had been locked away in by setting their house on fire, authorities said Wednesday.

The man said he was locked in an eight-by-nine-foot room and was fed two sandwiches a day with two cups of water for years, according to a police affidavit in Connecticut.

Firefighters responding to a house fire found a man who claimed he intentionally set the blaze to escape his room. He said he had been starved and held captive for more than 20 years by his stepmother.

The 32-year-old paints a picture of two decades of severe abuse, while his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, denies all wrongdoing, writes

A man intentionally started a fire in a room he had been held captive in for more than 20 years in an attempt to escape. Police were called to the home on February 17 for a report of an active fire at a residence on 2 Blake Street.