COURTESY PHOTO BY TOM WHICKER
Seven companies of firefighters battled a fire last night at 788 Mokapu Blvd. in Kailua, but the house could not be saved. The Red Cross is assisting the four residents, who were not injured. The fire department said the family's Christmas tree was accidentally ignited.
A family of four is homeless today after their Kailua home was leveled by a fire that started when their Christmas tree was accidentally ignited last night. Christmas-tree fire
leaves family homeless
Star-Bulletin staff
The fire at 788 Mokapu Blvd. started at about 8:30 p.m. The fire department sounded two alarms and sent seven companies. The residents were home at the time but no one was injured.
Some companies were dispatched to the other side of the Kawainui Canal to water down some homes because the winds were blowing embers from the fire, said Capt. Richard Soo, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.
Firefighters extinguished the fire at 11:22 p.m. but by then the four-bedroom home was destroyed.
The fire investigator estimated the damage at $300,000. The Red Cross is assisting a 46-year-old woman, her son, 21, and two daughters, 16 and 14.
The tree was inside the home when someone held a match to it, accidentally igniting it, Soo said. There were two other fires overnight involving Christmas trees. One was in Moanalua and the other in McCully. Both were inside dumpsters and did not cause serious damage.
Soo cautioned against discarding Christmas trees by placing them in dumpsters because "they are creating an inviting nuisance."
