House fire kills Palisades man
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
A Pacific Palisades woman escaped serious injury yesterday after an explosion and its resulting fireball consumed her home, but her husband of 51 years perished in the blaze.
Madeline Keliinoi, 70, was outside the house at 2373 'Anini Place where she and husband Edward had lived since 1966 when the 8:50 a.m. explosion occurred, but firefighters found 76-year-old Edward Keliinoi's body in the left-rear bedroom of the house.
Edward Keliinoi was a retired city public works supervisor.
Marie Cabanting, the eldest of the Keliinois' six children, said her father took care of her mother, who suffered a stroke four years ago and has high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease.
"He was really a nut about pulling out (electrical) plugs and double checking the stove before going to sleep, so I don't know what happened," Cabanting said, searching for answers to explain the tragedy. "My father was as healthy as a horse. (The firefighters) told us he was in bed, so I don't understand what my mother was doing outside."
Edward Keliinoi, a retired city public works supervisor, took good care of his wife, Cabanting said.
"He babied her," she said. "My father was really a good man."
Madeline Keliinoi was taken to Straub Hospital & Clinic, where she was treated for high blood pressure and released shortly after noon yesterday, said Cabanting.
Damage is estimated at $200,000 to the structure and $50,000 to contents, according to Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and police have classified the case as an unattended death.
Yesterday's death was the 10th fatality caused by a fire so far this year on O'ahu, compared with just one in all of last year, Kane said.
Firefighters had to shore up the structure before going into the home because of damage to the roof, said Kane.
"All that's standing is the carport," added Kane.
Her parents' house used electrical power, and Cabanting was unaware of anything stored that might have caused an explosion.
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Aveline Ho, a neighbor of the Keliinois, described the explosion as a "loud boom" and not the popping sounds of broken glass that are common at house fires.
Officials are investigating the cause of a house fire that killed a man in Pacific Palisades. Neighbors say they heard a loud explosion.
"It was loud," Ho said. "I thought it came from the mountains. I ran outside to check my house because I smelled smoke, but I didn't see anything. I went back inside and one of my neighbors called about the fire. When I went back outside, I saw the flames."
Cabanting said one of her parents' neighbors called her about the fire.
"She said she could see Mama outside but didn't know where my dad was," Cabanting said.
The Keliinois moved from Palolo to Pacific Palisades, where they raised their six children.
In addition to his children, Edward Keliinoi is survived by 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
"My grandpa had a great sense of humor and enjoyed telling stories about himself," said 20-year-old Fred Cabanting Jr.
One of her father's favorite stories was about his education, which amounted to eight years of schooling, Marie Cabanting said.
"He'd tell us that he got out of doing homework by washing the teacher's car," she said.
Staff writer Curtis Lum contributed to this report. Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8181 .
