Officials say woman
set home on fire
An 81-year-old Kahaluu woman is suspected of starting a fire yesterday that destroyed the rented house she shared with her husband and grandson.
Police said the woman's 33-year-old grandson saw smoke and pulled her from the burning bedroom.
All three occupants escaped unharmed, but their home of many years burned to the floor.
The woman was taken to Castle Medical Center for psychological evaluation, Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said.
The fire began in the woman's bedroom and was intentionally set, he said. The Honolulu Police Department arson detail is investigating.
Five fire companies responded to the 8:40 a.m. fire at 47-435-H Waihee Road. The fire was brought under control by 9 a.m.
Neighbors said the family had lived the longest of any resident in the complex of 15 single-family rental houses, which are set close together.
Fire investigators estimated damages at $175,000 to the one-story structure and $35,000 to its contents.
Neighbors heard a loud explosion after the fire began.
"It was like a boom, a real loud boom that shook the whole house," said John Cardenas, 52, who lives across the lane from the house. "I spilled my meal."
An oxygen tank inside the home had exploded, fire investigators determined. The woman, who used oxygen, had two tanks inside the house.
Clint Whalen, 24, tried to douse the fire with a garden hose, but said it "was too far gone."
He sprayed a house next door whose wall was burning from exposure to the fire.
"Too close for comfort," said Suzette Knock, whose house next door received an estimated $30,000 in damage. "By the time I got home, the fire was so huge, I was screaming and everything 'cause I thought my house was gone."
A house across the lane received an estimated $1,000 in damage to a window and screen.