Police have opened an arson investigation in connection with a house fire that left a Maili family homeless on Christmas Eve.
 
Police said a 31-year-old man awoke to smoke and fire coming from his kitchen. Two adults and two children were able to escape without injuries.

The fire started shortly before midnight Thursday in a wooden duplex at 87-108-E Kaukamana St., firefighters said. Damage to the home was estimated at about $270,000.

Police said the cause of the fire remains under investigation but that officers opened a first-degree arson case.