The other man was listed in serious condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after accidentally setting himself ablaze while trying to torch two cars in Oak Cliff, fire officials said.
In the fatal fire, a 46-year-old man died from smoke inhalation and burns inside a vacant home in the 1600 block of Peabody Avenue, just south of Fair Park in southeast Dallas.
Lt. Jesse Garcia, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman, said the man was with a group of people inside a vacant home that was being renovated. He said that they did not have permission from owners to be there.
"According to his buddies, they were in there smoking crack," Garcia said.
Garcia said that fire investigators believe that the blaze began in a mattress in the back of the house and quickly spread throughout the house. He said that investigators believe that the crack-smoking might have caused the fire. The first alarm on the fire went out at 3:24 a.m., and the blaze was extinguished by 4 a.m.
Several other people made it out of the house, Garcia said, but the victim apparently was trapped.
"The man made several desperate attempts to escape the blaze but was unable to go beyond the anti-burglar bars," Garcia said. "The man eventually succumbed to the smoke and collapsed in the front room of the house."
Lt. Joel Lavender, another Fire-Rescue spokesman, declined to identify the man until next of kin had been notified.
Garcia said the burglar bars could not be opened from the inside because they had been welded shut.
He said that homeowners should find other ways to protect their homes, and he noted that it is now illegal to manufacture such bars without latch keys that allow them to be opened from the inside.
In the other fire, Daniel Sierra, 22, was seriously burned while setting fire to two cars at about 3 a.m. in the 900 block of Centre Street in the Oak Cliff area of southwest Dallas, fire officials said.
"Close friends of the suspect told firefighters that a woman was sitting in one of the cars as he began to pour gasoline on the vehicles," Garcia said. "As she made a quick escape, the man lit the two vehicles."
But, he added, "The guy caught himself on fire first because of the gasoline vapors that got into his clothing.
"So he goes off running down the street, rolls on the ground and starts a grass fire."
Garcia said that he didn't know exactly why Sierra wanted to burn the cars, but he said firefighters learned that there had been some sort of dispute between Sierra and the family of the woman who jumped free of the cars.
Garcia said Sierra likely will be charged with arson.
