Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL HomeHouse fire displaces family of five

House fire displaces family of five

HONOLULU (Hawaii News Now) - The Red Cross is helping a family Saturday night, after their home went up in flames.

It happened on Punchbowl Street, just mauka of the Queen's Medical Center.

Fire fighters got the call just before six and found the home completely engulfed.         

Home video captures the moments after the fire breaks out. Ruth Alboro lives next door to the single-story home. She caught the flames on tape from her third floor lanai.

"I just seen the fire starting, and then it moved out to the whole house and the fire went over that thing over there," said Alboro. "We thought it was going to blow up."

Alboro says the heavy smoke forced everyone out into the streets.

"We were trying to call the fire trucks, but all my neighbors already called it. So my neighbors were jumping into the yard with the fire hose trying to turn the fire down, but it was too late already. The fire just grew so big," said Alboro.

Fortunately, the family of five renting the home escaped unharmed.

"No injuries to them, but unfortunately right now we are still looking in the home for three animals," said Captain Earle Kealoha of the Honolulu Fire Department.

Two dogs and a puppy are missing. Firefighters say the family was just about to sit down for dinner when they smelled smoke.

"I understand that they were frying some food earlier for dinner, so our investigator will give us some specifics, but we're gearing it towards a probably cooking-related fire," said Captain Kealoha.

Some good Samaritans who happened to be passing by when the fire started helped bring the family to safety.

Paramedics treated a woman in the family for smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire and damages to the home have not yet been determined.