WAIPAHU — Enoka Tupua sat in a van on Pupukahi Street shortly after noon yesterday, looking up at the charred walls of his two-bedroom second-floor apartment unit, feeling incredibly lucky.

Tupua, 31, his wife, Malologa "Loga" Siagatonu and their three children — ages 10, 9 and 6 — escaped uninjured from an early-morning fire at 94-115 Pupukahi Street with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

"One of the firefighters asked me if I had anything valuable in the apartment and I told him everything that was valuable to me is standing outside," Tupua said. "I'm very grateful."

Firefighters responded to the 1:24 a.m. alarm and had the fire, caused by an electrical short, under control at 1:40 a.m. The Fire Department estimated damage at $110,000 to the building, which manager Anuilagi Lotu says is owned by Donald Tom, and $10,000 to the contents.

Matauaina Siagatonu, 30, lived with his sister and Tupua in the burned unit. The family accepted assistance from the Hawai'i State Chapter of the American Red Cross to purchase clothing, food and personal items but declined housing. They'll be staying with relatives in a nearby apartment building.

The Red Cross is also assisting three adults and five children who were living in the unit below the Tupua's apartment that sustained water damage.

Tupua said he was in the master bedrooom when "something woke me up and I saw the ceiling was bright orange."

What he saw was the reflection of the fire, which he believes started with a 6-month-old air conditioning unit that was on at the time.

"Our (smoke) alarm didn't go off," Tupua said. "The fire wasn't that big and I tried to put it out with the extinguisher."

The extinguisher worked for about seven seconds and fizzled out, so Tupua said he woke his family and got them out of the unit before going back in and trying to douse the flame with a pitcher of water.

David "Vico" Nash, Tupua's neighbor, was awakened by the shattering of the glass casing of the extinguisher Tupua grabbed. Nash grabbed a second extinguisher and tried to help Tupua fight the fire.

With the fire spreading, Nash went back to his unit to get his wife and grandson out.

"The flames were out of control," Nash said. "There is a God because it could have been worse. Something might have blown."

The units all have gas utilities, Nash said.

"It was the longest five minutes of my life," Tupua said, estimating the time between his first seeing the flame to the arrival of firefighters.