Kalihi woman killed in fire
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fire investigators today will continue searching for clues about the cause of a house fire that killed an 84-year-old woman and left 25 people homeless yesterday in Kalihi.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
About 11 people were home when the fire broke out at 1511 Adelaide St. Everyone except Pia Oasay managed to escape, family members said.
Lourdes Pascua, sitting with her sister-in-law Rufina Agamao, is offered words of sympathy after losing her 84-year-old sister in a fire at their Kalihi home yesterday. The fire left 25 people homeless.
Resident Mike Sales, who rescued two relatives, said he wanted to save his auntie Oasay, but he couldn't make his way into the burning house a second time.
Sales said he returned home from his delivery job just before 3:30 p.m. and found the house engulfed in smoke.
"I saw a red color and black smoke," Sales said. "I was looking for my uncle (Pascual Oasay), my mother-in-law (Lourdes Pascua) and my auntie (Pia Oasay)."
'Too much smoke'
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Sales ran through the smoke to the second floor and rescued his mother-in-law and uncle, but said he couldn't run back into the burning house to rescue Oasay.
When firefighters arrived, they found the home on Adelaide Street fully engulfed in flames yesterday. Eleven people were home when the fire broke out.
"Too much smoke, that's why I couldn't save Auntie," Sales said.
"It was a fast-moving fire," said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said. "When we arrived, the house was fully engulfed. We couldn't access the house.
"Flames were leaping out," Tejada said. "It would be like walking into a wall of flames. There was no way to effect any sort of rescue."
Tejada said winds fanned the fire, preventing firefighters from getting too close. The fire forced firefighters into a defensive position with efforts focusing on saving neighboring homes.
At one point, black smoke could be seen blocks away, drifting the across the H-1 Freeway.
Nine fire companies responded to the 3:30 p.m. two-alarm fire with the first unit arriving two minutes later, Tejada said. The situation was declared under control at 4:46 p.m.
Source of fire
Chopper 8 • Special to the Advertiser
Residents said they didn't know how the fire started, but one told the Fire Department that the fire started in the kitchen area, Tejada said. It was unclear if the house had a smoke alarm.
As winds fanned the flames of the fire on Adelaide Street yesterday afternoon, firefighters were prevented from getting too close to the home and were forced to restrict their efforts to keeping the blaze from spreading to neighboring homes.
Pascua said she was watching television and that her brother Pascual Oasay was taking a shower when the fire broke out.
Moments after the fire, worried residents and family members frantically tried to account for everyone. Initially, two people — a toddler and Oasay — were reported missing. Later the toddler was found safe, family members said.
Firefighters later searched the house and found a burned body in a second floor room, Tejada said. Family members identified her as Pia Oasay. They said Oasay probably became trapped in the burning house and couldn't escape in time because she had difficulty walking.
The Red Cross assisted 25 people: 17 adults and eight children.
The fire caused an estimated $400,000 in building damage and $80,000 in content damage, Tejada said.
Reach Brandon Masuoka at 535-8110 or at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.
CORRECTION: Pia Oasay was the victim in the fatal fire in Kalihi. An earlier version of this story erroneously reported her first name.
