A 44-year-old Kapa’a woman is being treated for first and second-degree burns over 50 percent of her body after a fire caused by the ignition of propane gas fumes destroyed her home Tuesday. Renee Barretto was in fair condtion Wednesday
A 44-year-old Kapa’a woman is being treated for first and second-degree burns over 50 percent of her body after a fire caused by the ignition of propane gas fumes destroyed her home Tuesday.
Renee Barretto was in fair condtion Wednesday at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Lani Yukimura.
Officials said the fire started at 4-428 Kuhio Highway at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday when fumes leaking from a propane tank were ignited by a flame from a water heater, triggering an explosion.
The explosion posed no fire threat to surrounding homes, Kaua’i County Fire Department officials said.
Barretto was leaving the home through a door by the propane tank and water heater, which were outside the house, when the explosion occurred, fire officials said. Had she remained in the house, she might have been spared injuries, they said.
“Unfortunately, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said battalion fire chief Bob Kaden.
No one else was in the house when the fire started, officials said.
Firefighters from the Kapa’a Fire Station responded and had the fire under control by 4:21. It was extinguished an hour later.
The fire caused about $185,000 in damage to the home, said fire inspector David Bukoski.
American Red Cross officials met with Dennis Barretto, the husband of the victim, at the hospital Tuesday night and offered “to give him whatever” aid he needs, said Lucia Valentin, a volunteer with the organization.
“We are going to give him clothes, and he will probably need housing,” although family members have offered Barretto housing, Valentin said.
American Red Cross representatives planned to meet with him again Wednesday night to offer other assistance, Valentin said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
