Posted on: Thursday, April 21, 2005
No injuries reported as homes burn
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A two-alarm fire destroyed more than half of an older wooden house near the Waipahu Cultural Garden Park yesterday morning but did not cause any injuries. A second fire earlier in the day gutted an unoccupied house in Hau'ula.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser "I was in the back hanging up clothes when I smelled smoke. I thought somebody was burning rubbish," said Donald Leong, who lives across the street from the Kawanishis.
"When I looked over, I could see the flames shooting up behind the car in the carport. I went in to call 911, and by the time I came back out, the fire had already spread to the main part of the house. The windows had blown out and the flames were lapping the roof already. I couldn't believe how fast it spread."
Capt. Kenison Tejada, a Honolulu Fire Department spokesman, said the alarm was received at 11:17 a.m. Fire units were at the scene by 11:23 and the fire was declared under control 10 minutes later. Tejada said about 20 firefighters battled the blaze.
"The fire appeared to have done the most damage to the kitchen and living room areas of the house, although the two bedrooms were heavily damaged by heat and smoke," Tejada said.
Damage was estimated at $225,000 to the building and $30,000 to its contents.
The Kawanishis had not returned by the time firefighting efforts were winding down. The American Red Cross said it provided help to the family.
Esther Hajiro, who lives down and across the street from the Kawanishis and is a good friend, said the Kawanishis are retired and have two sons who no longer live with them.
"I heard a lot of explosions, like 'bang, bang, bang,' so I was hiding for a while back in my bedroom," Hajiro said.
Neighbors said what sounded like explosions were the windows in the car, living room and kitchen blowing out.
Hajiro said that most of the homes on the street were built in the late 1940s or early '50s and that the Kawanishis lived in their home for 30 years or more.
Tejada said a stiff breeze contributed to the fire's rapid spread through the single-story, single-wall house. Firefighters used foam to help extinguish the fire in the carport, partly because of concerns that the burning car's gas tank might explode.
Firefighters had to cut through a padlock on the driveway gate and then break down the front door to get into the burning house, even though the two front windows had blown out during the blaze, Tejada said.
Meanwhile, a fire in Hau'ula earlier yesterday morning caused about $120,000 in damage to an unoccupied house and about $20,000 to its contents, Tejada said.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-7412.
In Waipahu, neighbors identified the owners of the house at 94-546 Awamoi St. as Howard and Cynthia Kawanishi. They were not home when the fire broke out about 11:15 a.m. and were believed to have gone to a relative's funeral.
No one was at home during yesterday's fire at 94-546 Awamoi St. in Waipahu. The fire burned more than half of the wooden house, as well as an auto in the carport. Earlier yesterday morning, in Windward O'ahu, another fire destroyed an unoccupied house in Hau'ula.
