Fire destroys apparently abandoned home in Maili

The Honolulu Fire Department is investigating a fire that destroyed a home in Maili.

Twelve units with more than 35 firefighters responded to the blaze at 87-794 Farrington Highway near the intersection of Maipalaoa Road shortly before midnight Tuesday.

Firefighters reported the single- family house was engulfed in flames, which were visible from a half-mile away. Crews brought the blaze under control at about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday and extinguished it a half-hour later.

Emergency Medical Services personnel evaluated a 23-year-old neighbor who suffered smoke inhalation, who refused to be taken to a hospital.

The cause of the fire and a damage estimate have yet to be determined.

Fifty-eight-year-old Robert Sylva, who lives next door, said he’s thankful he and his family members were not injured by the flames. His home and two vehicles sustained minor damage from the intense heat from the fire. The damage include six windows of his house that shattered from the heat.

Sylva said he was sleeping when his 11-year-old granddaughter alerted family members of the fire when she heard crackling and popping sounds. The patriarch grabbed a water hose and sprayed their roof with water to prevent the fire from spreading to his property. “It was pretty intense,” he said.

For months, neighbors have complained of at least a dozen or so squatters regularly seen entering and exiting the property throughout the day and night. Area residents also alleged drug activity as well as heaps of rubbish and a derelict vehicle on the grounds that appeared to be stripped of most of its parts.

Sonny Ho, who owns the four- bedroom home, said he has been involved in a dispute with family members of an 83-year-old tenant who died in August 2020.

In May, the court issued Ho’s property manager, Andrea Rosa, a writ of possession to evict the late tenant’s two adult sons from the home. In a November 2020 letter to the occupants filed with the court order, Ho wrote the sole tenant on the lease was the 83-year-old and that after his death, “no current occupants have any legal right to live on the property.” He also noted in the letter that he received reports of numerous individuals residing at the property and trash and broken vehicles in the yard.

In a phone interview with the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser Wednesday, Ho alleged he did not receive any rent payments approximately three months prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ho boarded up the property two months ago but noticed the barriers were taken down the next day.

According to Ho and his property manager, a deputy sheriff notified one of the late tenants sons last week to vacate the property by July 23. The son could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

When Ho last visited the home with a handyman Tuesday afternoon, he recalled encountering two unknown women sleeping inside. The women left after Ho told them to leave.

Ho received a call from his property manager at about midnight Wednesday that his house was on fire. “It completely burned down,” he said.

HFD investigators said the property appeared abandoned at the time of the fire.

Ho said it has been a nightmare for him. In addition to the charred home, the city Department of Planning and Permitting issued a notice of violation to Ho Friday concerning the rubbish and dilapidated vehicle allegedly left on the property by squatters. The notice ordered Ho to remove the trash and vehicle within 30 days or face civil penalties.