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Pearl City pastor confirms dead include his mother, brother

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Fire crews battled a blaze at the Marco Polo condominium this afternoon.

Pearl City Community Church Pastor Phil Reller said police confirmed that two of the victims in today’s fatal fire at Marco Polo are his mother and brother.

Reller received a call from Hawaiian Airlines that his brother, Britt, 54, an airline employee, had called to say he would be late for work because of the building fire, and that smoke was filling the condominium, unit 2613. His brother had been taking a shower and rushed out but was unable to get to his 85-year-old mother, Reller said.

His brother said smoke was filling his room and he had crawled under a bed, the Rev. Reller said

“He couldn’t reach my mother,” Reller said.

Reller said he never heard from his brother again.

He said police later confirmed that his brother and mother, Melba Jeannine Dilley, were among the fatalities.

Correction: Britt Reller called his employer, Hawaiian Airlines, before dying in the Marco Polo fire. An earlier version of this story reported Phil Reller received the call from his brother.
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