Guam student
dies in Kapahulu
house fire

Firefighters arrive in
3 minutes but find the
home engulfed by fire

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

A 22-year-old college student from Guam died this morning in a house fire in Kapahulu.

Honolulu firefighters were alerted of the fire at 3145 Duval St. at 4:45 a.m. and were on the scene in three minutes, said Capt. Richard Soo, fire department spokesman.

But by that time the three-bedroom structure was fully engulfed in flames.

Soo described the fire as fast-burning. Firefighters got the fire under control 20 minutes later, but the home was already gutted.

Fire rescue personnel went into the burned-out structure and found the body of the male victim near the door to the living room, where the roof had collapsed, Soo said.

Two other college students from Guam lived in the home. One was off island. The other, a 24-year-old man, was home at the time but was able to escape.

He told fire investigators he woke up and found smoke in his bedroom. When he opened his bedroom door, he said he just saw red.

He told fire investigators he ran out through the living- room door yelling "Fire, fire."

Next door neighbor Paul Yamane said screams of "fire" and his dog's barking woke him.

When he looked out his window he said he saw flames. Yamane said he rushed outside and started spraying water from a garden hose onto the flames and his own home.

Another neighbor, Cheyanne Kaleikini, said her grandfather woke everyone in the house at 4:45 a.m. when he saw the flames at the back of their home. They live at 3148 Esther St., which is adjacent to the house that burned.

She said she called 911 then her family began spraying their home, her aunt's home next door and the flames from the Duval Street house with four garden hoses.

Fire officials have not determined what caused the fire. However they believe it started either in the kitchen or the living room.

The identity of the victim has not been released.