"We just started waking up the neighbors, knocking on doors, called 911, making sure everyone was safe," said Dafne Campos who lives on Malta Court.
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When firefighters saw the size of the fire, they called for a second alarm. They were worried about it spreading to other homes. 36 firefighters were on the scene.
"The fire building was fully involved so there was fire coming out of all the windows and flame lengths were probably twice as high as the home," said Battalion Chief Tracey Chin.
They also had yesterday's wind on their minds.
"If this had been during that time it probably would've been a wind driven fire that would have effected many more homes," Chin said.
Firefighters say there were a lot of combustibles in the house, meaning it was full of a lot of stuff.
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One man who was living at the house says a piece of plastic was leaning on the heater and caught fire.
"I ran in there and grabbed the plastic and pulled it all through the house downstairs. Then I ran back upstairs to help. The house caught on fire so fast. Because of the heat I ran back downstairs and I couldn't go back in. I was going to try to put the fire out," said Alvin Dunn.
He says four people were in the home at the time. Firefighters were unclear on who was in the home.
"Apparently it was a transient living situation. If there is an occupant who is reporting that, then...the reporting numbers have kind of vacillated," said Chin.
The fire did some damage to the eaves of the home next door but firefighters saved that house.
Firefighters say the man who was hurt suffered from minor smoke inhalation. They have not released information about the man who died. Investigators are still looking for the cause of the fire.