Christmas blaze leaves eight people homeless
By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Bautista family hadn't even gotten a chance to open their Christmas presents before a raging fire that swept through their house yesterday afternoon destroyed them.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"That's our Christmas," said Bonifacio Bautista, a 42-year-old U.S. Army retiree who suffered first-degree burns on part of his back. "But thank God nobody was hurt."
Bonifacio Bautista carries one of his family's dogs, Rusty, past what remains of his Akau Street home in 'Ewa Beach after a mid-afternoon fire yesterday. Eight members of the Bautista family were left homeless by the blaze.
At around 3 p.m. on Christmas Day, smoke began filling the living room of their modest three-bedroom house on Akua Street in 'Ewa Beach. The family had been taking an afternoon nap, but Bonifacio Bautista woke up when he smelled smoke.
He grabbed his three children and led them outside through the back door.
His wife, Gina, dashed into the bathroom to get water to put out the fire. When she went back to the living room, she was overwhelmed by the fire. Cornered, she was forced to crawl out the bathroom window.
"I panicked," said the 31-year-old mother of four, standing outside her ruined home in pajama bottoms and a beige tank top smeared with soot.
The fire destroyed most of their home, leaving only a few posts uncharred. The remains of a blue bicycle sat in the front yard. The family's brown Toyota minivan was burned, while their red Honda, which isn't working, escaped intact.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Honolulu Fire Department is looking into the cause of the fire. The Bautistas think it might be their artificial Christmas tree or an electrical problem. They did not have smoke detectors.
A tearful Gina Bautista huddled with her daughter April, 3. The family's gifts were destroyed in the fire that razed their home.
The fire raged for about an hour, the family said.
Eight people lived in the house: the couple, their four children, and Gina Bautista's parents. When the fire ignited, their eldest son, 11-year-old Mark, was at a relative's house. The grandparents also were not home.
Standing shirtless in front of his house, a worried look on his face, Bonifacio Bautista said he bought the house in 1997 and hopes that his fire insurance will be adequate.
He said he had just finished making the payments on his 62-inch television — now reduced to cinders. Gina Bautista said she lost a brand-new DVD player that she won in a drawing.
"Bad luck," she said.
The Bautistas had planned to celebrate Christmas at a relative's house last night. Instead, they would have to stay for the night at the very least.
At about 6 p.m., the air still smelling faintly of smoke, the Bautista family walked through the remains of their charred home looking for any belongings that could be salvaged.
They put what they found into plastic grocery bags, tied them up and stacked them into a minivan that they borrowed from a relative.
Several neighbors came forward to offer help — whether donating a bag of children's clothes, taking care of the Bautistas' three dogs or just giving the family hugs.
Gina Bautista, an immigrant from the Philippines who came to Hawai'i in 1991, said visa documents for her relatives were lost in the fire. The relatives are expected to immigrate to the United States in a year and stay with her family.
"Where will they stay now?" she wondered.
Reach Deborah Adamson at dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8088.
