DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Firefighters from Pearl City and Waiau battled a house fire yesterday on Komo Mai Drive near Waimano Home Road. A firefighter sprayed the last blast of water inside the charred remains of the interior.

Family, neighbors
unable to douse fire

No one is hurt in a fire that destroys
part of a Pearl City home

Seventy-eight-year-old Antonia Balicanta fought a fire in her Pearl City house yesterday, throwing water from a cooking pot onto the flames, but she did not notice that her hair had been singed.

Balicanta said, "It was getting bigger, too much smoke. I cannot see anything."

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane said Balicanta's daughter, Mary Ramirez, got her two sons out of the house, and "when she came back, Grandma was still fighting the fire, but she convinced her to go outside."

Balicanta's hair had been singed but she was otherwise OK, Kane said.

The fire gutted the downstairs living area for Balicanta's family of 10 yesterday in the Momilani subdivision.

"It is very sad, very bad," Balicanta said. "Half of the house burned. My grandson's bedroom all gone. My living room all gone. My bedroom all gone. All my windows were all broken."

She also lamented the loss of photographs. "My family albums, my travel pictures, my wedding pictures, my pictures when I was young -- everything."

Emergency crews treated her with oxygen as a precaution against smoke inhalation and took her to Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi for observation.

Neighbors said they saw flames shooting out of the windows of the Balicanta family's home at 1652 Komo Mai Drive. Some even tried to help put out the fire but were overwhelmed by smoke.

"We grabbed the garden hose ... but as soon as we opened the door, we were blasted with black smoke," said neighbor Gary Ontai. "Couldn't do anything."

Firefighters received the alarm at 8:39 a.m. and arrived to find the lower portion of the home engulfed in flames. According to investigators, the fire started in a middle bedroom and eventually spread throughout the lower floor.

"Flames were coming out the window about 10 feet high ... a lot of smoke," said neighbor Frank Fujimoto. "They (firefighters) had to break the glass and pull down the curtains to put out the fire."

Damage to the home is estimated in excess of $400,000, and the cause is under investigation, Kane said.

He also noted that the house has no smoke alarms and that if the fire had occurred earlier, while everyone was still asleep, those inside might have died.

"This family could have easily been overcome by smoke," Kane said. "So we just want to reiterate the value of a smoke detector and an escape plan."

Balicanta's son and his family, who also live at the home, were out at the time of the fire.

The Balicantas are staying with relatives.