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Police arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of arson in
connection with a large fire that
destroyed a home in Waipio early Friday.
Approximately 35 firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire that broke out at a single-story residence at 94-1047 Lumi St. at about
6 a.m. The home is in a Waipahu subdivision.
When they arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Three people — two men and a woman — were home at the time of the fire escaped.
Resident Thor Solmerin, 20, said he heard crackling sounds outside of his bedroom and felt heat coming from the hallway.
“When I looked down the hallway, I saw the fire taking ablaze to the front of the house,” Solmerin said as he stood near his neighbor’s home with his 10-year-old dog, Big Boy, as he watched firefighters extinguish the blaze.
He woke up his friend, a 20-year-old woman, who also lives at the home. Both of up them frantically broke a jalousie window and escaped.
Solmerin said his friend sustained a contusion on her head and a gash on her chin when she fell from the window.
After his friend escaped, Solmerin went through the same window where he sustained a large scratch on his left arm and other scratches and bruises on his legs. He then grabbed his dog, who was in a cage in the carport fronting the home. The dog was uninjured.
Emergency Medical Services responded and took his friend in stable condition to a hospital where she was treated and released.
Firefighters brought the fire under control at 6:30 a.m. and extinguished it at 7:15 a.m. Battalion Chief Robert Thurston said the home was deemed a total loss.
A damage estimate has yet to be determined.
Though the exact cause of the fire is under investigation, police arrested Solmerin’s cousin at about 6:30 a.m. on suspicion of first-degree arson. The suspect, who lives with Solmerin, was home at the time of the fire and escaped.
Police arrested him at the scene. He was taken to the hospital after he sustained burns to his arms and legs in the fire.
Seven people resided in the home, owned by Solmerin’s father.
The American Red Cross is assisting displaced residents.
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