Retired firefighter loses
Hawaii Kai home to fire
Retired firefighter Ernie Chan was philosophical about a fire that destroyed most of his Hawaii Kai home yesterday.
"Any given day, anyone's house," he said.
Family photos and videos and three decades of personal items were lost in the fire at 737 Kokomo Place.
"It's all gone; that's the worst," Louise Chan said. "I'm just so shocked and numb."
Chan comforted his wife. "We've got a lot of that in our memory," he said. "You and I are together. That's the main thing, and the neighbors are safe."
The fire was reported at 7:17 a.m. and about half the home was engulfed when firefighters arrived, according to Honolulu Fire Capt. Emmit Kane.
About 25 firefighters responded from Hawaii Kai, Wailupe and Waimanalo and had the fire out at 7:50 a.m., he said.
Damage was estimated at $200,000 to the house and about $75,000 to the contents, Kane said.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
Chan retired in 1985 at age 49 after 27 1/2 years as a firefighter.
He said he ran early yesterday, then he and his wife left home because his wife had to finish a report at N.C. Travel Associates.
She was working on her report and he was "on the computer banging to get e-mail" when their daughter, Julie Nurro of Kalama Valley, called to say the house was on fire, he said. Neighbors had called Nurro.
Neighbor Laurie McCrary said she heard a strange crackling noise.
"It was like drops on the roof," she said. She looked out the window and saw 6-foot flames leaping from the Chans' lanai, she said.
She called 911 and her husband, Kevin, grabbed the garden hose. "You don't realize how little a hose can do until you have a big fire."
He used two hoses and her brother-in-law, Jeff Graf, turned the Chans' hose on the fire.
She was worried the Chans were still in the house and banged on the front door, calling for them, she said.
Chan said the patio, kitchen, dining and living room, and one bedroom burned in the blaze and three other bedrooms sustained extensive smoke and water damage.
American Red Cross volunteers provided emergency services to the couple, and relatives and neighbors gathered to support them.
Chan said he and his wife were the original owners of the house in Mariners Cove in 1970. He just put on a new roof a few years ago, painted everything and was redoing the yard, he said.
Now his plans are "to fix it up and just keep going."