Smoke and flames consumed a small white and green house near Mill Avenue on Seventh Street Tuesday evening.
The house, located next to eJoy Cafe and across from Borders, burned quickly, eyewitnesses said.
Clinical laboratory science senior Kathryn Krupp was working at eJoy when the house caught fire.
"A guy ran in and said, 'The house next door is on fire, somebody call the fire department,' and I thought he was joking," she said. "I went outside and saw flames reaching through the windows and black smoke billowing out."
Krupp said she was worried about the fire spreading to eJoy after the roof of the house started to burn, but the fire department arrived just in time.
"They had it out in probably five or 10 minutes," Krupp said. "They did a good job."
The house will probably be torn down, said fire department engineer Gary Brown.
"There was nobody inside," he added. "It's probably vacant."
EJoy customer Linnette Wittman witnessed the fire and said that no one had used the residence for years.
"It's been vacant forever," she said. "They've had a for-rent sign since three or four years ago."
Before the fire spread to the whole house, it looked like there was a barbeque in the living room, said history junior Nolan Kombol, who said he was walking by when he noticed the flames through the window.
"I saw some flames going on inside, then some kid came and opened the door and everything went up in flames," Kombol said.
"The windows had started to crack," he added. "When he opened the door they blew out."
Reach the reporter at: john.dougherty@asu.edu.