LIHUE — When Roger Williams suddenly smelled smoke one afternoon while browsing the Internet, he knew something was wrong. He abruptly stopped what he was doing, and turned to look towards the screened-in deck adjacent to his bedroom in the
LIHUE — When Roger Williams suddenly smelled smoke one afternoon while browsing the Internet, he knew something was wrong.
He abruptly stopped what he was doing, and turned to look towards the screened-in deck adjacent to his bedroom in the home he shared with his sister — and saw smoke billowing. Panic set in and his heart raced when he realized he’d have to rescue all six of their animals: two dogs, two cats, a rabbit and a parrot.
The 62-year-old rushed to the nearest phone and dialed 911.
About 20 firefighters from Lihue, Hanapepe, Koloa and Kalaheo stations responded to the fire on Oct. 20 around 3:40 p.m., which is estimated to have caused $175,000 in damage, according to county spokeswoman Sarah Blane.
Williams, who was the only one home at the time, said he had no idea how long it took for firefighters to arrive, but it felt like forever.
“It’s hard to judge to me when you’re in a crisis like that,” he said, especially when all he could think about were his pets.
Williams said the phone line melted when he was in the kitchen, so he had to call 911 again using his cell phone.
“The flames were near the faucet,” he said. “Smoke was filling up the house.”
He ran to his sister’s room to search for one of his cats. He grabbed Ariel, an older indoor cat. That’s when he saw Maya, his large dog, “who kinda looks like a wolf, but is very nice.”
As he was making his way out of his sister’s room, he grabbed Tooie, a male Siamese cat, and Yoshi, a small dog that’s part terrier. He started to herd them towards the front door.
“I’m going down the hallway towards the big room, which is my bedroom,” he said. “Ariel’s under my left arm. I almost got Tooie and Yoshi out, but they ran back in.”
Williams said everything happened so fast that he didn’t have a chance to grab the leashes for the dogs, who have been known to dart out the front door any chance they got. In this case, Yoshi and Maya must have been terrified, he said.
“I got Maya, but she runs underneath the house,” he said.
Tooie also ran back into the house, he said.
At this point, the only animal he had safely outside the burning house was Ariel, who was still under his left arm.
By this time, gigantic 10-foot flames were burning on the roof of the house, which Maya was underneath the house. Fortunately, he said, “it didn’t get hot under there.”
“I forgot about the parrot and the bunny,” he said. “The house was filling with smoke. The fire had broken the windows. Things were cracking.”
It was the last time he saw Tooie, Maya, Yoshi, the rabbit and parrot until things settled down.
Blane said Kauai Coffee Company helped provide water to control the blaze, which was out by 4:20 p.m.
“Those guys are heroes,” Williams said. “I see big flames coming off the roof. I turned to a fireman and said, ‘The fire is getting out of control,’ and he said, ‘There’s not enough pressure here.’”
Afterwards, firefighters located the rabbit’s cage inside the ravaged house and brought it to Williams.
“There was charcoal all inside his cage, but he was fine,” he said.
Firefighters also located the cage of parrot, who did not survived the blaze, said Capt. Daryl Date of the Kauai Fire Prevention Bureau.
But Yoshi and Tooie were missing, Williams said.
Maya later reappeared from her spot underneath the blackened house and rejoined Williams, much to his satisfaction, he said. She was not harmed.
Firefighters told the siblings they could not enter the house because temperatures had reached more than 1,000 degrees and it was too hot for anyone to go in there, he said.
A representative from the American Red Cross assisted, and provided them with a place to stay for the night and a credit card to pay for meals and any other necessities they might need. The Salvation Army also assisted, Williams said.
Williams and his sister, who owns another property adjacent to the burned-down house, have been living there since the fire.
Five days after the blaze, Tooie the Siamese cat nervously walked up to the house, he said.
“Tooie survived!” he said. “His whiskers were curled a little bit from the heat.”
But Yoshi is still missing.
It’s been more than three weeks since the fire. Williams and his sister have been slowly sorting through their cherished belongings, hoping to find things they can still use. Right now, he said, it’s just books and miscellaneous stuff.
But there’s no sign of Yoshi within the house, which Williams takes as a good sign.
“We’re hoping he jumped out the window,” he said.
Blane said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
