No one injured as Kalihi home burns

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Fire victim Charles Allen sat yesterday morning near the gutted split-level, two-bedroom Kalihi Valley rental that has been his home for 27 years, talking to the Hawaii Chapter of the American Red Cross about help with food and clothing.

Gerald Souza examines plants damaged by an early-morning fire that destroyed a neighbor's home in Kalihi. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I lost everything, but at least I have my health, and I got my main thing out," the 54-year-old said of his prized tenor saxophone. "It feels like I fell off a horse right now, so I got to get back up and start over again."

Eight fire companies responded to a 5:18 a.m. alarm at 2635-A Kalihi St. and reported the fire under control at 5:47 a.m. Damage to the house, a back unit in a tight cluster of homes, is estimated at $250,000 to the structure and $30,000 to contents. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Allen was downstairs when he smelled smoke from an upstairs storage room. "I noticed the glow from the fire and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher," said Allen, a graphic artist and sign painter who works at Hickam Air Force Base. "When it ran out, I grabbed a second extinguisher, and it ran out. That's when I got out."

Allen will be spending Christmas with a friend.

"It was a good stop," fire inspector Capt. Glenn Solem said of firefighters' efforts to contain the damage.

The Kalihi Uka fire company used an elevated hose on its engine truck to shoot water over a house and onto the burning structure as firefighters worked water lines up a narrow path.

"We're very fortunate the other houses didn't catch on fire and nobody got hurt," said Wendell Lumabao, whose parents, Isidro and Florentina Lumabao, own the rentals.

Neighbor Gail Gonsalves agreed. "Main thing, lives were saved," she said. "You can replace a house, but you can't replace a life."

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.