A 6-year-old girl and a 66-year-old man suffered second- and third-degree burns to their feet after fire tore through a single-story home on Kahualei Place in Waipahu Tuesday night, sending both to an emergency room in serious condition. Honolulu firefighters found the house fully engulfed in flames when they arrived shortly after 10 p.m.
The Honolulu Fire Department responded to reports of a building fire at 94-447 Kahualei Place, and crews reportedly spotted smoke and flames in the distance while still en route to the scene, according to Hawaii News Now. Firefighters brought the blaze under control by 10:41 p.m. and had it fully extinguished by 11:22 p.m., the outlet reported. A neighboring residence on the left side of the burning home sustained light fire damage, though it was not clear from the report whether anyone else was displaced beyond the occupants of the destroyed house.
Firefighters searched the residence and found no occupants inside when crews arrived, per the same account. Honolulu EMS treated the 6-year-old girl and the 66-year-old man at the scene before they were transported to an emergency room. HFD personnel were all accounted for and uninjured.
Red Cross Steps In for Displaced Family
The American Red Cross was notified to help the displaced occupants of the burned home, the report notes. The Red Cross Pacific Islands Region typically provides immediate disaster relief to families who lose their homes to fire on Oahu, including temporary lodging, emergency financial assistance for food and clothing, and emotional support, according to Aloha United Way. The organization's disaster teams in Hawaii respond to local emergencies roughly every four days, the group notes.
An investigation has been requested into the fire's origin, cause, and estimated damage, the report states. HFD's Fire Investigation section, part of its Fire Prevention Bureau, handles origin-and-cause work on major structure fires using certified investigators and an accelerant detection canine trained to sniff out up to 200 flammable compounds, according to the Honolulu Fire Department. Investigators coordinate with police and consumer safety agencies when circumstances call for it.
Severe Burns Typically Mean a Trip to Straub
Hawaii's severe burn cases, including the kind of second- and third-degree injuries reported in this fire, are typically referred to Straub Benioff Medical Center in Honolulu, home to the state's only specialized burn care unit, according to Hawaii Pacific Health. The unit, founded in 1983, serves as the primary burn facility for the entire Hawaiian island chain. Under state law, attending physicians and hospital staff are also required to report burn injuries and severe physical trauma to the county chief of police within 24 hours of treatment, per Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 453-14.
Real estate records for the Kahualei Place area show single-story and two-story homes built close together on narrow suburban lots, a layout that can let radiant heat spread damage to neighboring structures once a house is fully engulfed, according to Redfin listings for the street. That dynamic echoed a three-alarm Waipahu blaze in February, when a house fire on Awalai Street spread to two neighboring homes and displaced 17 residents. Waipahu has also seen other recent structure fires, including a May blaze on Awanei Street that 39 HFD personnel across 11 units knocked down within 25 minutes without injury.
Nationally, residential structure fires in Hawaii produce 15.6 civilian injuries per 1,000 fires, below the U.S. average of 19.7, according to U.S. Fire Administration data. Structure fires still account for more than 76 percent of all fire-related injuries statewide. The cause and origin of the Kahualei Place fire, along with an estimate of the damage and updated conditions for the two burn victims, remained unknown as the investigation continued.
