SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Hillside fire burned its way in and around a North San Bernardino neighborhood at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

The burning fire destroyed Matthew Valdivia’s first home. He bought it as a fixer-upper with his family about one year ago. After some renovations, he said it was beginning to feel like their own home. 

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“It’s so stupid to argue over materialistic things. I mean, as you can see, you have it one day and then the next day, the next day it’s gone,” Valdivia said. 

His home was in that north San Bernardino neighborhood where the Hillside fire burned through 200 acres early Thursday morning, forcing his neighbors and his family to leave as soon as they could.

“I actually woke up to a really strong smell where I thought something was actually burning in my house. And then, I looked at the curtains through my french doors and sure enough, there was a huge glow,” Valdivia said.

While firefighters fought to save the neighborhood, Valdivia’s home became one of six structures that were destroyed. Eighteen others have been damaged by the Hillside fire, so far.

Mike Hatoum lives about one thousand feet away from Valdivia’s home. Hatoum said his home wasn’t affected by the fire, but it came closer than expected.

“When we got out it was right in front of us, right here, it’s not even 50 feet away from us and it was windy and it was like a war zone,” Hatoum said.

Both families made it out of the area, safe. But when Valdivia, came back and found his home in charred pieces, it was hard for him to see.

“It hurts just because I got baby pictures from my boys that you know are irreplaceable. Now, I don’t have those anymore. But, as long as everybody is safe and there was nobody that died, everything else can be replaced,” Valdivia said.

Fire crews continued to put out hot spots and battle the blaze despite the scar the Hillside fire left in the community. Now, residents will soon make there way back home to pick up the pieces and try and put this fire behind them. 

As of Thursday afternoon, the fire was 50 percent contained with mandatory evacuations set to be by 6 p.m.