CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Bill Rezentes talked to police yesterday about how he tried to save a neighbor during a fire in Palolo.

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73-year-old man dies
in Palolo blaze

The body of a 73-year-old man was found in the living room of his Palolo home, which was destroyed by fire yesterday, fire investigators said.

Firefighters had to remove items including remnants of a collapsed roof to get to the victim, Fred Manalo, according to fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.

Neighbors said Manalo, who suffered from diabetes, had impaired vision, which prevented him from driving.

Fire investigators had spent yesterday sifting through the rubble, and by day's end had not determined the cause of the fire at 2441 Yvonne Place.

Damage to the house was estimated at $130,000, and $50,000 to its contents, Tejada said.

Manalo's 72-year-old neighbor, Bill Rezentes, ran next door as soon as he saw flames because he knew Manalo was having trouble walking. But when Rezentes opened the front door, flames poured out and he could not enter.

The fire started at about 7:45 a.m. at the house.

Neighbors said Manalo used to do a lot of walking daily down steep Yvonne Place, going out in the morning, catching the bus and returning in the afternoon.

"It's really heartbreaking," said Virginia Rezentes, Bill Rezentes' wife.

She described Manalo as "very generous" and "a good neighbor."

Manalo, widowed for several years, lived alone, neighbors said.

Virginia Rezentes said his five grown children, however, would help care for him, and his youngest son was supposed to move in with him. Manalo's daughter was supposed to pick her father up for a doctor's appointment at 9:30 a.m. yesterday and arrived after the fire.

Rezentes said the children have lost both parents now.

Manalo's family declined comment.

"He was a nice man," said neighbor Tadanobu Higa, 92. He and his wife, Masako, 90, knew the Manalos for more than 15 years since they moved in.

At the time of the fire, Masako Higa was washing clothes and did not notice the flames.

"By the time we saw the fire, it was in full blast," she said. She called 911 but other neighbors had already called.

"It was scary. The wind was blowing, and we were worried about the next-door neighbor," she said.

Carolynne Cook, who lives two doors down, said the age of the homes is "part of the reason they go up pretty fast."

Cook, who had formerly lived on the other side of the valley, said ever since the 1997 Palolo house fire that killed seven people, she has insisted on having smoke detectors. No smoke detector was found in that fire.

Cook said she did not hear one go off at the Manalo house.