Late-night fire destroys three homes in Kane'ohe

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

KANE'OHE — Fire destroyed three homes on Makalani Street late last night, leaving at least 18 people homeless.

Flames towered over the Makalani Street area of Kane'ohe late last night, where fire destroyed three homes. All the residents were accounted for and no injuries were reported. John Yee • Special to The Advertiser

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said all the residents had been accounted for and no injuries were reported.

Firefighters were called to a home at 45-453 Makalani, a narrow, two-lane street, at 10:23 p.m. Before the blaze was brought under control, a total of 45 firefighters had responded.

Neighbor Joy Lindsey said the flames were three stories high and the home burned to the ground in minutes.

"The smoke and flames were just going up into the sky," Lindsey said. "I heard some popping, crackling and explosions."

Lindsey said she lives about 200 feet from the homes, on Kamehameha Highway. She said her husband was concerned because a storage shed at the home contained propane and acetylene tanks.

Mark Voeller lives directly across the street from the destroyed homes, and said he was at home when he heard a lot of loud noises outside. "It's a quiet neighborhood and it didn't sound right, so I came outside and the house was full blast."

Two of the destroyed homes are on the same lot.

Voeller said when he first saw the fire it seemed as though only the front house was burning, but by the time firefighters arrived, flames had spread to the back house on the same property as well as a neighboring house.

Soo said firefighters had problems getting to the back house and had to use a side street to reach it.

Forty-five firefighters responded to the three-alarm blaze.

The cause of the fire was under investigation last night, and the Red Cross was called to assist the affected families.