For Louise and Lionel Perreira, the Waipahu house they shared with five other family members was not just their home of 12 years, but a gathering place for their large extended family.

"We have a lot of memories in this house — birthdays, marriages, seven graduations," said Louise Perreira, 48, as she stood across the street and gazed at the charred remnants of the house destroyed Wednesday morning by fire.

Their first grandchild’s baby shower was supposed to be held there Sunday.

The 10:58 a.m. fire was caused by an unattended stovetop in the kitchen, leaving the rental house at 94-146 Awamoku St. a total loss, Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins said.

The only occupants home were three adults, who escaped uninjured, but the blaze caused an estimated $240,000 in damage to the main house, $25,000 to its contents, $5,000 to the structure behind it, $5,000 to a vehicle parked in front of the house and $1,000 to a neighboring house, he said.

The first of 10 companies arrived at 11:01 a.m. and found the house engulfed in flames, fire officials said. Firefighters brought the fire under control at 11:23 a.m. and extinguished it noon.

"It hurts ’cause everything we own sits in that house. Absolutely everying," said Louise Perreira.

Lionel Perreira was in a back room Wednesday morning preparing favors for their first grandchild’s shower Sunday when he smelled something burning.

He ran to the kitchen, found it fully engulfed in flames, then quickly went to warn his two nieces.

"When I came back the whole front (of the house) was involved," he said, estimating it took 15 to 20 seconds to spread to the living room. "Good thing I smelled it when I did. Otherwise I would have been trapped in here."

A niece had forgotten a pot of oil on the stove, Louise Perreira said.

"It’s OK. At least all our lives are saved."

Louse Perreira, who was taking her sister to a doctor’s appointment, got a call about the fire from her brother, a 911 dispatcher.

"When we came home our house was engulfed in flames," she said.

The couple lived in the main house with her sister, 50, and her brother, 46.

She said a nephew, 20, and a niece, 29, with her 2-year-old daughter, lived in the back house. Another nephew, 26, lived in a room made from a shed.

She was also concerned family members’ medication and medical supplies were lost, including that of her sister, a cancer patient.

Lionel Perreira was escorted in to retrieve his wallet. All that was left was the burnt edges of the $100 bills that were to pay for the baby shower, he said.

The couple says they will go on with their grandchild’s shower, but without the favors.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family.