KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM A fireman walked yesterday past the burned-out third floor of a home in Alewa Heights at 1948 Kalikimaka St. Officials put the damage at about $90,000.

Alewa Heights home
scorched by fire

A neighbor heard an explosion
and tried to help with a hose

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

Fire severely damaged a three-story Alewa Heights home about noon yesterday despite the efforts by a next-door neighbor to douse the flames.

Neighbor Lloyd Kim said his wife called 911 while he grabbed his garden hose and shot water across his fence into the third floor of the home at 1948 Kalikimaka St.

"At first we heard this muffled explosion, then my wife saw some smoke coming out," Kim said.

Kim estimated the distance between the rooftops of the two homes at about 15 to 20 feet.

Neither owner Charlie Wiebe, whom firefighters and friends say lived part time on the third floor, nor a second-floor tenant were at home at the time of the fire.

Fire Capt. Richard Soo said fire damage was confined to the third-floor kitchen, living room and bedroom, while the second floor sustained water damage.

Officials put the damage at $80,000 for the structure and $10,000 for contents.

Soo said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, which likely started in the third-floor living room.