Person killed in Simi Valley house fire after fireworks explosion, firefighters say

A man died after a fireworks explosion at a Simi Valley home on Thursday.

According to the Ventura County Fire Department, the explosion happened in the garage of the home in the 1600 block of Edmund Street before noon, just hours before the Fourth of July.

The flames then spread into the attic and the main home.

Firefighters arrived at the home and found the victim's burned body in the driveway near his pick up truck. They also discovered fireworks in the back of the truck.

"I can tell you some of the fireworks recovered were very large," said VCFD Public Information Officer Scott Thomsen.

Neighbors told Eyewitness News that the deceased lived at the home with his mother.

At least one neighbor said that for years she warned the man that this could happen. She added that she feared this day would come.

"Holy mother of God he blew up his mother's house. I can't believe it," said Christine. "We've had issues with our next door neighbor and him doing fireworks before. We've screamed at him over it. I know his mom screamed at him over it. The last few years I didn't think he was getting any."

The intensity of the house fire shocked neighbors.

"It was just a big explosion. I have an office window that faces there and I looked out, and I came right out and I could see the garage had collapsed," said neighbor Thomas Kudlick. "At this point there wasn't any smoke or fire, but within minutes there were more explosions and more smoke and fire. Probably 20 or so explosions overall."

The neighborhood had to be evacuated because the explosion sent debris flying in multiple directions.

"We were so scared we didn't know what it was," said Camille Dalzell.

Video from AIR7 showed the damage from above, including the home's collapsed roof.

The explosion also shattered a neighbor's windows next door to the home.

Friends and family are now grieving the deceased.

"If you needed help, he'd be there to help," said Christine.

"Fourth of July is never going to be the same for them, for any of us because we're always going to think about this now," said Mary Tercero.

Eyewitness News learned that the victim's mother is now staying with relatives.

Now, the VCFD is warning those who plan on lighting fireworks on the Fourth of July.

"For anybody out there that has already purchased fireworks, I understand that when you made that decision you thought this is going to be safe fun and enjoyable, but what we see here today and what we see every year with people being injured, burns, losing parts of hands fingers and worse-that you would feel terrible if the following day one of your friends or family were injured," said VCFD's Scott Thomsen.

This fireworks incident remains under investigation.