Tremaine Ribucan stood in front of the smoldering ruins of her extended family's home in Waipahu yesterday thinking about how three $6 smoke detectors kept the fire that destroyed the house from becoming a tragedy as well.

"I got up to use the bathroom and everything was fine," Ribucan said. "About 15 minutes later, I heard the smoke alarm go off and my sister yelling, 'My room's on fire.' "

The fire in the one-story wood house at the end of Leowaena Street was reported about 4:30 a.m. and brought under control 30 minutes later, Fire Capt. Emmit Kane said.

The cause had not been determined as of midday yesterday, but foul play was not suspected, Kane said.

"This truly could have been a tragedy if not for the smoke alarm," Kane said. "A lot of lives could have been lost. The house was compartmentalized into a lot of smaller, makeshift spaces. There was a lot of material to fuel the fire."

Tremaine Ribucan's two sons, Rayden, 9, and Richard, 4, were asleep in the same room with her.

"I yelled at them, 'Get up and get outta here,' " and in an instant, all three were through the door that led from the room where they were sleeping straight to the outside.

Ribucan took her sons down the street to her sister, who also had escaped the burning building, and told them to stay put.

"I went back to the house and began banging on the outside walls telling everybody, 'Fire! Get out, now! Fire!' "

The family — spanning four generations — had no fire evacuation plan, but a quick head count showed all nine people who were in the house made it out unharmed.

There were times when the number of people sleeping at the house would swell to 17 or 18, depending on which nieces or nephews, and their boyfriends and girlfriends, would decide to spend the night, Ribucan said.

When she and the two boys bolted from the burning house, Ribucan was able to grab her purse. Her two sons were clad in the T-shirts and shorts they slept in, their bare feet stained from black soot.

American Red Cross workers were on the scene before the fire was out, helping find food and lodging for the family.

"I have family here (on O'ahu) — they all came as soon as they heard about the fire. My boyfriend is in Kane'ohe, so we will probably stay with him for a while," Ribucan said.

Ribucan said her mother had lived in the house since the early- to mid-1970s and raised dogs, mostly Chihuahuas.

All but one of the dogs appeared to survive the fire and were being cared for by friends and neighbors.

Ribucan and her family thanked firefighters for battling the fire, rescuing the dogs and making sure all of the people in the home were accounted for.

A preliminary estimate set damage to the home at about $125,000 and $65,000 damage to the contents, including two cars and a compact pickup truck destroyed by the blaze.

The fire also caused about $10,000 damage to surrounding homes, Kane said.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.