Three families lost their homes yesterday in separate fires that may be related to electricity going back on after Friday's power outages.

Power Outage Causes HFD Scramble

 

The island-wide outages caused the Honolulu Fire Department to answer dozens to fire, medical emergencies and elevator situations.

 

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  Neighbors of the three homes that caught fire said electricity had turned on about the same time that the fires started.

The cause of at least one fire, in Ahuimanu, was related to a stove that hadn't been turned off when the power went out Friday, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Earle Kealoha.

The American Red Cross said the three families in Kapolei, Ahuimanu and Kaneohe lost everything in the fires and were offered food, clothing and shelter.

About 4:30 a.m., the first fire broke out in the kitchen of a single-family home in Kapolei.

A man, who was with his daughter at 92-809 Palailai St., awoke to the smell of smoke and walked into the kitchen to see flames rising to the ceiling, Kealoha said. The two escaped without injuries.

Firefighters brought the fire under control in about seven minutes, but the home was destroyed for a loss of $350,000.

Kealoha said investigators know the fire started on the stove, but couldn't determine a single source and considered the cause undetermined.

Nearby resident William Loudermilk said power was off before he went to sleep about 2 a.m., but had returned by the time the fire woke him up at about 4:30.

Almost eight hours later, a house fire started in Kaneohe, displacing four adults and two children and causing $800,000 in damage.

At 12:11 p.m., firefighters responded to the blaze at 45-273 Puaae Road and extinguished it by 2:20 p.m. No one was home at the time.

The cause of that fire is still under investigation.

Alice Phillips, who lives nearby, said the electricity came back on about noon, just before the fire started.

Another Puaae Road resident, Marge Ahloy, said she smelled burning paper at about the same time the electricity returned.

“;It was pretty close,”; she said. “;It's hard to say.”;

While fighting that blaze, some firefighters were diverted to the third house fire at 47-584 Ahuimanu Road at 12:40 p.m. They extinguished the fire by 1:30 p.m.

Kealoha said investigators determined that the resident had been heating some water when the power went out Friday. He removed the pot of water but didn't turn off the stove, he said. When the power returned, the stove radiated enough heat to ignite nearby items.

No one was home at the time of the fire, which caused $450,000 in damage.

“;Power came on just before 12:30 p.m.,”; said Belinda Lee, who lives on Ahuimanu Road. “;There was a ton of white smoke. It turned to black pretty fast.”;