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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Hawai'i Kai house fire kills mother and two girls

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — The deaths of a woman and her two daughters yesterday morning marked the greatest loss of life in a house fire in this community that anyone could recall.

Investigators are looking into the cause of a house fire on Lunalilo Home Road in Hawai'i Kai that took the lives of a woman and her two young daughters. A jogger discovered the blaze and alerted neighbors.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Police and fire officials have not yet determined what caused the fire at 1038 Lunalilo Home Road that resulted in the deaths of a woman who neighbors identified as 40-year-old Joanna Miranda and her two children, ages 7 and 3.

The 6:30 a.m. fire was concentrated in the master bedroom, and that's where the three were found, between a mattress and dresser, according to Honolulu Police Lt. David Kamai. The door to the room was closed.

"In the 35 years I've lived here, I can't remember any house fires where anyone was killed," said Lane Woodall, a Mariner's Cove resident.

Fire officials have finished their investigation and have turned the case over to the police, who handle all fire cases that result in a death, said HFD Capt. Emmit Kane.

"We have nothing to indicate that there was foul play," said Kamai. "We're still looking at everything."

An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms who specializes in fire investigations was dispatched to the scene yesterday, said Tracy Elder, special agent in charge.

Elder said the ATF gets involved in fire investigations at the request of HPD or HFD.

The city medical examiner's office said autopsies would be completed by early this afternoon.

The investigation included testing for accelerants. Police routinely look for accelerants, electrical problems or other sources of fire, Kane said. The three-bedroom, two-bath house was equipped with smoke detectors, he said.

Joanna Miranda's husband, Wendell, was at work at the time of the fire. Wendell Miranda was a star football player for Kaiser High School in the late 1970s.

Police spent the day at the home in this neighborhood where most residents have lived for decades.

The Miranda family had moved in just four months ago, after responding to a rental ad placed by the home's owner, Dr. Roger Ede.

"What happened here this morning is a tragedy," Ede said yesterday. "Our hearts go out to the family and their friends."

When officials contacted Ede about the fire, he went to the house hoping that the family was away on vacation. Instead he found a white van parked in the garage, an orange tricycle in the driveway and shoes piled by the front door.

"They were a nice family," Ede said. "The father appeared to be a hard-working fellow who took good care of his family."

The family was very quiet, said Bill Haleck, who has lived in the home next door since 1979.

"I've only seen them a couple of times," Haleck said.

The fire was discovered by a jogger.

Sophie Hara said she first smelled smoke as she came up Lunalilo Home Road. Then she saw dark-brown smoke pouring from the rear windows.

Hara banged on the door of the home and yelled "Fire!"

She got no answer, so she banged on Haleck's front door. Together, they knocked and rang the doorbell at the home while Haleck's family called 911.

"The police asked me if I saw anything unusual," Hara said later. "I told them I hadn't, but I was so concerned about the fire, I didn't think about anything."

At the time, Hara didn't know anyone was inside the house. Once firefighters arrived, she left. She said it wasn't until hours later that she learned three people had died.

"I am so upset," Hara said. "When I think of it and that there were three people inside, and I could have helped them ..."

"Maybe I should have broken down a door or a window and dragged them out. If I had only known."

Staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report. Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.

• • •

Hawai'i's deadliest house fires

Feb. 11, 2004 — A 52-year-old woman and her 26-year-old son die in a fire at their 'Aiea home.

Oct. 15, 1997 — Seven members of a family perish in a fire that starts at 1816G Palolo Ave. and spreads to two other buildings.

Aug. 25, 1991 — Orlando Ganal Sr. firebombs a Kailua home, killing a 31-year-old man and his two children and severely injuring the man's wife. Ganal also shoots his estranged wife's parents on the same day and wounds his wife and son. He is serving a life term without parole for the firebombing and murders.

Aug. 15, 1980 — Three people are killed in a blaze that engulfs a boarding house on Kina'u Street.

Sept. 3, 1979 — A woman and three elderly men in her care die in a fire that destroys an old plantation home near Leeward Community College. The woman had installed numerous locks and deadbolts on the doors, making it impossible for neighbors to help.

April 8, 1974 — An 18-year-old woman, a 16-year-old boy and a 3-month-old die in a fire at an Enchanted Lake home in Kailua.

July 23, 1973 — Two women, 43 and 18, and two boys, 9 and 2, are killed in a Kaimuki house fire on 8th Avenue.