Long before the flames, the Minute household, 15 strong, had been a bustle of hope and activity.

Tamasailau Minute had just started work at the soon-to-open Target store in Kapolei. Her husband, Douglas, had enlisted in the Navy and was preparing to leave for Chicago for basic training.

Douglas Minute's parents, Lela and Tavoa, were also hosting a couple of relatives from Samoa, one of whom was undergoing treatment at Shriner's Hospital.

The Minutes' optimism was tempered when fire destroyed their home on Waimakua Drive in Mililani's Waipi'o Acres.

Pamasailau Minute was on her way home after work Thursday afternoon when she got a call from a cousin who lives up the street.

"My cousin saw smoke and when she looked down, she realized that it was our house that was on fire," Minute said yesterday. "All I could think of was my kids and my husband."

By the time Minute arrived minutes later, the back of the single-story, seven-bedroom house was fully engulfed. Fortunately, Minute's three children — 9-year-old Isaac and 7-year-old twins Irae and Isaiah — and the five adults home at the time had all escaped safely.

It would take five engines, two ladder trucks and approximately 40 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

Honolulu Fire Department investigators reported Friday that the fire was caused by a child playing with a lighter. Damage was estimated at $450,000.

The Minutes lingered at the scene long after the fire was extinguished, hoping in vain that perhaps a few of their belongings might have survived.

"Everything is gone," Minute said. "And I mean everything."

Yet, as the family stood there surveying the blackened remains of their home, they experienced what Minute calls an unexpected blessing.

"Our neighbors starting coming by with food and blankets and clothing," Minute said. "People we didn't even know came by to bring us things and comfort us. And it hasn't stopped. For the last two days, people have kept coming.

"It's crazy," Minute said with a resigned laugh. "We have an amazing support system with our neighbors, our church and all of these strangers who have come out to help us. It's so overwhelming, you just have to cry."

The Red Cross of Hawai'i found temporary accommodations for the family at a hotel in 'Aiea, but where they will go from there is uncertain. For now, Minute said they will take things day by day, step by step.

Minute is taking time off from her new job, but will soon return. Douglas Minute leaves on Tuesday to begin his military career. The rest of the family, though shaken, "is doing good," Minute said.

"We've had some hard luck," she said, laughing again. "But we've also been blessed by the people around us. I just love this aloha spirit we have here in Hawai'i."