Sixty-five-year-old George Burnett and his brother Ira peered at the charred remnants of their childhood home Monday afternoon in Kailua.
"We grew up here," said George Burnett, who said he moved there with his family when he was in the first grade. "It’s very sad."
Burnett’s father, Vane, a Pearl Harbor attack survivor and Air Force veteran, along with mother Helen, purchased the house in the 1950s. They both died within the last few years, so the house remained vacant, Ira and George Burnett said.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 136 Kaha St. near Kainalu Elementary School was "totally gutted inside" Monday, said Honolulu Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Nakagawa.
The fire caused an estimated $200,000 in damage to the structure and $20,000 to its contents, including a 1983 Jeep CJ-7, fire Capt. James Todd said. The cause remains under investigation.
Nakagawa said the initial call at 1:16 p.m. to the Fire Department came in as a car fire in a carport which was soon upgraded to a building fire.
The first company to arrive reported that half the house was burning and a power line was down in the street.
Responding companies were "able to knock it down in 10 to 15 minutes," Nakagawa said. "The garage — the structure — was unsound, so we had everyone avoid it and the power line and entry."
The fire was brought under control at 1:38 p.m. and extinguished at 2:11 p.m.
Neighbors on both sides of the house said the fire apparently began after someone tried to start a vehicle in the carport.
Next-door neighbor Angela Avicolli, 60, said she was home sick in bed when she awoke and heard someone trying to start a vehicle twice.
"Then I heard a boom," she said. "My little dog, her nose started going. Then I got up and I came out, and a neighbor was calling 911."
A blue recycling bin in her driveway melted, which was the only damage on her property.
Neighbor Wayne Turl said Ira Burnett’s son-in-law was trying to start the vehicle; all that remained of it was a burned metal frame.
The son-in-law acknowledged he was at the house, but declined to speak to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
"Fortunately no one was hurt," Ira Burnett said.
Another next-door neighbor, Ardeth Howser, 79, said she heard small explosions after someone tried to start a car.
Howser said, "I heard a little girl crying, then heard the mother say, ‘The house is on fire!’"
She looked outside and was "extremely worried" when she saw flames 15 to 20 feet high.
George Burnett said the family had been preparing to either rent or sell the property, which remained vacant since his mother died at age 93 in March 2012.
