A 78-year-old woman suffered minor injuries during a house fire yesterday on Puahu'ula Place in Kane'ohe that was apparently caused by cooking on a stove that was left unattended. Two neighbors who saw the flames rushed into the house and persuaded her to leave.

The fire began shortly before noon yesterday, and by the time the fire department arrived, about 25 percent of the home was engulfed in flames, said HFD Capt. Terry Seelig. The fire cause $300,000 in damage to the three-bedroom house.

The woman, Marie Arakawa, was already out of the home when firefighters arrived but had suffered some burns, Seelig said. She refused treatment from Emergency Medical Services personnel, but family members were urged to take her to the hospital, he said.

A family member said Arakawa was taken to the hospital shortly after the Fire Department arrived on the scene.

Gene Basso, who lives across the street, saw the flames and ran to the home to search for Arakawa or anyone else who may have been inside.

Basso, along with another neighbor, went into the home and urged Arakawa to get out.

"She wanted to go back in to get her keys. I told her to just get out," Basso said.

Basso grabbed a water hose and began spraying water into the living room through the open front doors.

"(The flames) kept getting worse, bigger," he said.

Another neighbor who has known Arakawa for more than 30 years and asked only to be identified as Sam for privacy reasons, went into the house with Basso. He said Arakawa was shaken up and was looking for something in the house.

"I told her to forget about it and get out of the house," he said. "The fire was so intense."

He said most of the fire was concentrated in the kitchen and was spreading throughout the home. He said Arakawa suffered burns to her arms.

Three people live in the home, but Arakawa was the only one home at the time of the fire, Seelig said. The other two residents were on vacation off island.

Seelig said the woman had apparently walked away from her cooking for a short period of time.

"The lesson here is, do not leave the kitchen if you are cooking, even if it's for a short time. If you're cooking and need to use the bathroom or answer the phone, take the food off the heat until you return," he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.