GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- A man in his 60s died Saturday afternoon and at least eight others were injured after the victim's bed in a Green Cove Springs nursing home caught fire. Fire investigators believe the man was smoking in bed.

The fire broke out about 4:40 p.m. in the east wing of the Governor's Creek Health and Rehabilitation Center on Oak Street.

"The staff did everything they could to get everybody out," said Lt. Robby Stephens of the state Fire Marshal's Office. "One member actually did try to help the victim, but, unfortunately, the fire was already fully involved."

A total of 22 people were evacuated during the blaze, but the fire was actually contained to one room and extinguished within 10 minutes of the arrival of firefighters.

"It went really, really fast, once the fire started," patient Carol Burchette said. "I opened up the door and asked one of the nurses, you know, what can I do? She told me to open up the window. As soon as I opened up window, everybody came over and pulled me out."

Burchette was one of eight people transported to Orange Park Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation -- five patients and three staff members.

Stephens said the preliminary investigation indicated the careless smoking caused the fire. Officials said the man was on an oxygen machine, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.

"It's a concrete-block construction facility, so it actually held the fire in the one room," Stephens said. "Which allowed staff to break windows and ventilate to the other rooms to get patients out."

Authorities have not released the name of the man who died. By Sunday morning, seven of the eight people transported to the hospital were released.

A total of six Clay County fire engines, two ladder trucks and eight ambulances responded, plus equipment and personnel from the St. Johns County Fire Department.