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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 2, 2002

Fire destroys home to 10

The Honolulu Fire Department was not able to save a house that burned at 1126 Aheahe Ave. in Whitmore Village yesterday. The rented home was declared a total loss.

Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

New Year's Day is a time for celebration and new beginnings, but for the 10 members of the Vaifale and Tiolu family, the celebration hadn't even begun yesterday when they lost their home in a fire.

Now the Whitmore Village family must start over with nothing.

No one was hurt in the afternoon blaze, but it destroyed the three-bedroom house at 1126 Aheahe Place and its contents, valued by the Fire Department at $30,000.

"Everything I got in there was brand new from Christmas — the kids' toys, the kids' new bikes, everything," said Roland Vaifale. "The main thing is my kids are safe."

Whitmore Village resident Roland Vaifale, left, talks with a Honolulu Fire Department investigator. The father of eight said they had all left for a gathering at his uncle's when they learned the home had caught fire. Fire investigators said a stove had been left on, and Vaifale recalled he had been cooking before they left and probably forgot to turn it off in the rush.

Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Vaifale, 32, and his wife, Saniata Tiolu, 28, had been renting the home for three years in an effort to raise eight children ranging in age from 10 months to 11 years.

The couple had no insurance on their valuables. The American Red Cross is helping the family to find temporary shelter, food and clothing as they start to rebuild their lives.

"Everything was going good," said Vaifale, who stayed home to take care of the kids since getting out of prison three years ago for traffic violations, he said.

"Now we get to start over, all over again," Tiolu said. "It's materialistic things (that were lost), but still it hurts."

The fire broke out around 2 p.m., about 20 minutes after the family had left for a party at Vaifale's uncle's house.

As they were being driven to the party, Vaifele said, he got a call from someone working at the Aloha Gas station, where his wife is station manager, and was told that his house a block away was on fire.

"I didn't think it was that serious," he said. But the house, valued at $90,000, was a complete loss.

Capt. Kenison Tejada of the Honolulu Fire Department worked on the investigation of the fire. The loss was estimated at $90,000 for the structure and $30,000 for the contents.

Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Neighbors said they had tried to extinguish the fire with garden hoses, but the flames were too strong.

HFD spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said investigators determined the blaze had started from a stove that was left on.

Vaifale said he had been cooking chicken katsu in a pot of oil just before he left the house. He probably forgot to turn off the stove, he said, because "We was hurrying to get to my uncle's house."

Anyone wishing to help the family can contact the Red Cross at 734-2101.

It was yesterday's fourth structure fire as of late afternoon after a mild New Year's Eve marked by only $250 worth of estimated damage, according to the Fire Department. Two schools and a Pearl City home also were damaged by fire yesterday.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.