Wall outlet started fire that killed man, daughter in Waipahu

A city fire investigator determined the early morning Wai­pahu house fire that killed a man and daughter Tuesday was caused by an electrical malfunction in a kitchen wall outlet behind the refrigerator.

When the first fire company arrived at 12:53 a.m. at 94-415 Apo­wale St., firefighters found the Wai­pahu Gardens house engulfed in flames and were told occupants might still be inside.

After bringing the fire under control 27 minutes later, firefighters entered the two-story house and discovered two bodies on the first floor, the man in the living room and the woman in a rear bedroom.

They were in the rooms were they usually slept, Fire Capt. Terry Seelig said.

Apart from the door to the kitchen where the fire started, the only other exit was the front door, which swings into the house and was blocked by a coffee table and some books, Seelig said, adding that the family did not use it as an exit.

The fire investigator also found no smoke alarms in the house.

The Medical Examiner’s Office determined the man, 84, and the woman, 55, died from thermal burns and smoke inhalation.

Seelig said neighbors saw and heard the man’s son, who escaped uninjured, yelling outside, likely trying to get the family out of the house.

Neighbors and friends identified the man as Haruki Tokita, his daughter as Karen Tokita, and son as Randy, 51, who was taken to the hospital for observation.

Neighbors said Tokita, a widower and an Ewa school caretaker and landscaper, cared for his children and was sole provider for all three, who have mental disabilities. The third child, Sandra, lives elsewhere.

Seelig said it is unknown how the son escaped, but he may have gotten out early through the kitchen door.

The fire caused an estimated $450,000 in damage.

Seelig said the Fire Department does not have a laboratory or the resources to analyze what went wrong with the outlet, but it appears it was due to a failure within the outlet and not the refrigerator.

Seelig said it is hard to say how the fire could have been prevented, whether there were clues such as an odor or sound or a problem with the refrigerator.

He said heat can slowly build up inside a wall, sometimes taking months to finally cause the wood to ignite.

The Fire Department urges residents to make a fire escape plan with alternate escape routes that can be used by all who live in a house to get out quickly, and to have working smoke alarms.

Call HFD’s Fire Prevention Bureau at 723-7162 for help with residential fire escape plans and in installing and maintaining smoke alarms.