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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, October 13, 2003

Kailua house destroyed by fire

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

A family was left homeless late Friday night after a fire destroyed their five-bedroom home in Kailua.

Red Cross workers were helping the family — a husband and wife, their daughter and an 80-year-old grandmother — to find temporary housing.

Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Kenison Tejada said the fire started after 10:30 p.m., when only the grandmother was at home.

Neighbors alerted the woman to the blaze and helped her out of the house at 418 N. Kainalu Drive, he said. No one was injured.

When firefighters arrived, the house, a car and a van that belonged to the family were engulfed in flames.

Thirty-five firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, then worked until about 2 a.m. to extinguish it.

Damage to the house and its contents was estimated at $260,000. Damage to the car and van were not estimated. A second car, which had been parked in the garage, was slightly damaged.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze, which appeared to have originated in a rear bedroom.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.