A 15-year-veteran of the Hawaii Police Department whose home was heavily damaged by fire Friday evening said he and his family are “so grateful” for the “overwhelming support and love from the community.”
A GoFundMe account created by Puna Patrol officers for Officer Erhard Autrata, his wife and their five daughters had raised $24,379 by late Tuesday afternoon, almost halfway to the goal of $50,000.
Autrata, his wife, their daughters and other family were at Kaleo’s Bar and Grill in Pahoa to celebrate the 10th birthday of the couple’s youngest when they received news that their Ainaloa Estates home was on fire.
“We’re in the restaurant,” Autrata told the Tribune-Herald. “I’d just posted a video of us singing her ‘Happy Birthday.’ We leave the restaurant, and we’re in the parking lot, and then our next-door neighbor calls, frantically. ‘The house is on fire. How do I get the dogs out?’
“Of course, my heart sank, and I was trying to get there. And the nightmare began.”
The family’s two German Shepherds and their cats were outside and escaped injury. But three smaller poi dogs inside were overwhelmed by smoke and died. The three that died were rescue dogs adopted by his wife.
“They’ve been with us about a year; they sleep at my wife’s feet,” he said. “They’re like her children. My wife was very affected by the loss of the three puppies. That’s what broke my heart — the dogs. I had to break the news to her that the dogs passed. None of her children were affected, because we were all together, but she was concerned about her fur babies.
“I was talking to the firemen. They told me dogs go toward the fire and bark at it until they pass out. … Instead of running outside, they ran towards the fire, bark, bark, barking. Because they’re barking, they’re inhaling all those fumes, and they just passed out.”
A written statement by the Hawaii Fire Department pegged the family’s monetary loss at $250,000 and property value saved by their response at $150,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Autrata said the garage, laundry room and one bedroom were salvageable.
“We lost two bedrooms, the living room, dining room. The kitchen area is heavily damaged. There’s a hole through the roof. Half of our solar panels are gone,” he said. “We want to rebuild. We just got a hold of the insurance company (on Tuesday). It was a three-day weekend, so they’ll be sending out an adjuster, and we’ll start going forward and see what we need to do.
“We raised our five children in that home. When all of this happened, I said, ‘We can always buy another house. And the kids said, ‘No. That’s our house.’ They want to stay in that house. That’s the only place they know, right? Three of my children were born (and) went right to that home from the medical center. We’ve had that home as long as I’ve been with the police department.”
In addition, many of the family’s possessions that weren’t damaged or destroyed by the fire sustained water damage from the firefighting effort.
“Everybody’s been giving us donations. My wife and kids are still going through clothes to see if they fit. People are calling me wanting to drop off supplies,” Autrata said. “There was a lady who gave us $6 or $7. It just broke my heart because she said, ‘This is all I have, but I just wanted you and your family to have this.’ That’s just amazing.
“I grew up in this community. In the last few days I’ve spoken to people I haven’t seen in years. They’re showing up, they’re calling and texting and sending their support. People are giving us money they don’t have. It’s just overwhelming, you know?”
Autrata, for years a highly-decorated officer in East Hawaii’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, has been in Hamakua Patrol for the past year-and-a-half. He said he doesn’t want to slight anybody by not mentioning them, but said he’s received calls, texts or visits from “it seems, almost everyone in the department.”
The callers, he said, included Mayor Mitch Roth, his Hamakua commander, Capt. Reynold Kahalewai, Puna Patrol Capt. Scott Amaral and incoming HPD Chief Ben Moszkowicz, who Autrata has known for years and who served as one of Autrata’s instructors when he became a drug recognition expert.
Moszkowicz described Autrata’s reputation as “sterling” and “beyond reproach.”
“He’s just a real hardworking guy,” said Moszkowicz, who’ll be sworn in later this month. “It’s horrible that a tragedy would strike anybody in the police department. But when it’s someone who is held by us all in such high esteem and high regard, it’s just heartbreaking.
“We’re lucky there’s no further loss of life besides the family pets.”
Added Acting Chief Andrew Burian, “It’s unfortunate, but we’re here to support him with whatever he needs. He’s a good officer. We just want to make sure he’s OK and his family is OK.”
Autrata said he and his family are staying at the home of his oldest daughter, who is married and has three children, and they are all “hanging in there.”
“My wife, my children and me just want to thank the community for their generous support of us,” he said. “We’re feeling God’s love through our community.”
The GoFundMe.com fundraiser can be found under “Kokua the Autrata Ohana.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.