Retired firefighter Rich Snyder rescued a neighbor from his burning home when the fires spread to the Pasadena street where he has lived for more than 30 years.
He told the BBC’s Helena Humphrey that he was working on his laptop in the evening when he saw a large fire through the window.
Mr Snyder quickly evacuated his home and alerted his neighbours, before staying to put out the flames with a garden hose.
With the help of a fire crew that drove through the area with a van full of fire retardants, he was able to contain the flames.
In the end, two houses in the street burned down, and the roof of another was damaged.
