CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Family members consoled each other yesterday after a fire consumed the Pacific Palisades home of Edward Keliinoi, who died in the blaze.
‘He did everything’
The cause of a house fire
in Pacific Palisades that killed
Edward Keliinoi is under investigation
Police and fire officials are investigating the cause of an explosion and fire that killed a Pearl City man yesterday and destroyed his family home.
Firefighters found 76-year-old Edward Lyons Keliinoi in a rear bedroom of the house at 2373 Anini Place at Pacific Palisades. His wife, Madeline, 70, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, was found outside the kitchen door.
Their son, 45-year-old Edward Jr., was at work when the fire broke out.
"What a way to die. That's not the way to go," said the Keliinois' oldest child, Marie Cabanting.
Neighbors who live in the quiet cul-de-sac said they heard an explosion early in the morning before the house was engulfed in flames.
"It was a loud boom," said Ella Hu, who lives at 2368 Anini Place. Hu said she brought Madeline to her house to get her away from the heat.
"It was fast," Hu said. "In a couple of minutes, it was up. The flames was all huge already."
Neighbor Danny Casaquit tried to pry the windows open with a rake to see if anyone was inside the home but the fire prevented him from entering.
"Everything was in flames already," Casaquit said.
Eighteen firefighters responded to the fire at 8:50 a.m. The blaze was under control at 9:07 a.m. and extinguished at 9:49 a.m.
"The home is pretty much fully destroyed," said Honolulu fire Capt. Emmit Kane.
Damage is estimated at $250,000 to the structure and contents. Investigators are looking into whether the fire may have been suicide.
Madeline Keliinoi was treated at Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi and released. She was distraught and her blood pressure was sky-high, Cabanting said.
The Keliinois were married for 51 years and lived in the home since 1966. The couple raised their children there and also cared for foster children.
Cabanting said her father was the sole caregiver for her mother, who suffered a stroke four years ago.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Only a shell of the home remained after a fire consumed it.
"He did everything," she said. "We used to come and try to help, and he would always chase us away."
Cabanting said she and other relatives had discussed the possibility of elderly care for their mother but their father wanted to be the one to care for her.
Cabanting described her father as a healthy and strong-headed man who "was always cracking jokes." He spent his childhood in a church orphanage with two other brothers when their mother died. Keliinoi joined the Army at age 17 and was a retired city supervisor.
Cabanting said her father was a stickler for safety in the home.
"He was really a nut about pulling out the chords from the walls so there was no fire," she said. "He always double-checked the stove at night before he goes to sleep."
Keliinoi is survived by his wife, Madeline; children Cabanting, Virginia Suganama, Edward Keliinoi Jr., Donna Ancheta, Mario Keliinoi and Patrick Keliinoi; grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Honolulu police officers restrained a man overcome with grief from entering the Anini Place house.
