Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004

Man, 19, found dead in Nanakuli home fire

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 19-year-old man died during a two-alarm fire at his family's Nanakuli duplex Thursday night.

The victim was identified by the Office of the Honolulu Medical Examiner as Frank M. Krzyska Jr. of Wai'anae.

Firefighters responding to the 11:49 p.m. blaze on Thursday found Krzyska lying on the bathroom floor of the home at 87-1428A Akowai Road, said HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada.

No cause of death was determined. An autopsy was done yesterday.

Krzyska is the seventh person killed in an O'ahu building fire this year. There was only one fatality last year, as well as in 2002.

The first crews arrived Thursday in six minutes, Tejada said.

As the fire started in the duplex, the father of a family in the adjacent unit awoke when he smelled smoke, Tejada said.

"He looked outside and saw the orange glow," Tejada said. "He was able to wake up his three kids — one girl and two boys — and get them all out."

His wife was not home at the time.

The Hawai'i State Chapter of the American Red Cross is providing counseling for the survivors, including Krzyska's mother and sister, who shared the home with him.

The fire destroyed the living room, kitchen and bathroom of unit A and damaged the bedrooms, Tejada said.

Damage was estimated at $150,000 to the building and $30,000 to contents, Tejada said.

Investigators, who returned to the duplex yesterday, focused on the kitchen as a possible source of the fire, Tejada said.

Thirty-five firefighters from seven units battled the blaze. It took about an hour to extinguish.

"It was intense in that one area, but they were able to knock it down quickly," Tejada said.

Akowai Road is where a 10-ton boulder slid down a nearby hillside and landed against a home May 13.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.