Hawaiian man uses miso soup to put out fire at mother's house

A Hawaiian man was able to put out a quick-moving fire early on Saturday morning with a big pot of miso soup before it could do too much damage to his mother’s home.

Reuben Prensky, 41, woke up and heard crackling sounds coming from the laundry room. When he went to investigate, he discovered that a plastic sink in the room had burst into flames.

Before the fire could get out of control, he doused the flames with a pot of miso vegetable soup from the kitchen. The broth slowed down the flames enough so that Prensky had time to grab the garden hose and fully extinguish the fire.

Fire officials believe the blaze began because of an electrical short in a light switch.

Prensky’s mother, 70-year-old Joy Gardner, was grateful for what her son and the soup were able to accomplish. "Everybody agrees, if that fire had gone on for about 30 more seconds, it would have burned the whole house down," Gardner told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Even with Prensky’s heroics, the fire still caused about $10,000 worth of damage.

"I'm very, very grateful," Gardner said. "He saved the house, he saved the day, he might have even saved my life."

[Honolulu Star-Advertiser] [Hawaii Tribune Herald]