A family of five lost their home last night when a fire gutted a three-bedroom house at 1475 Punchbowl St.

Yvonne Hussey of Makiki, the owner of the house, said she rented it to a couple and their three young daughters.

"They were sitting in the dining room about to eat dinner," Hussey said. "They said they smelled smoke and when they opened the door to the kitchen, the flames just leaped up at them."

The call came in at 5:45 p.m., according to fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. Firefighters had the fire under control at 6:02 and extinguished at 6:43, he said. A preliminary estimate put damage at $350,000 to $400,000.

Kealoha said the family had been frying food and firefighters suspected a kitchen fire.

Three of the family's pet chihuahuas were unaccounted for.

The family got out of the house safely, but the mother was very agitated and had to be assisted by paramedics, Kealoha said.

James Kanoholani of Hawai'i Kai was driving nearby with his wife and young daughter when he saw the smoke and stopped to make sure that no one was in the house.

"It was mostly smoke, when I got there," Kanoho-lani said, "then we saw flames. The woman was very upset about her pets, and the man was at the front door, but there was too much smoke and it was too hot. I urged them to get away from the house. Then the fire trucks came."

Kealoha called Kanoho-lani a Good Samaritan and expressed the Honolulu Fire Department's gratitude. "We always appreciate it when people try to help in a situation like this," he said.

The Red Cross was on hand last night to help the family.

Hussey said she grew up in the house.

"But in the end it's all just stuff," she said. "Praise God; all five got out."