WAIMEA, Oahu, Hawaii -- A woman who was staying at a house on the North Shore said her son was playing with matches and that caused a fire that destroyed the home on Tuesday night.

The fire broke out at Iliohu Way near Waimea Bay just after 5:30 p.m.

Flames engulfed the home by the time firefighters arrived, officials said. The Honolulu Fire Department called a second alarm and a total seven companies from as far away as Mililani and Wahiawa.

The teams could not save the house.

A police officer at the scene told KITV that the house was on the market and was due to close Friday for $1.7 million.

Christy McMillen and her two children were guests in the home, staying with a friend for a few weeks. Her daughter called out that a pillow was on fire, and Christy tried to put it out with water.

"It just started to go so fast, got so hot, we couldn't do anything about it and so I ran outside and asked a neighbor to call 911 and get the kids from the house. It didn't go slowly; at all the whole house basically caught up in a matter of five minutes," McMillen said.

She told fire officials that her 4-year-old son had been playing with matches.

"I'm not sure how he got them, but he did and that's how it happened, was one match," McMillen said.

Fire officials put damage estimates of the house at $1 million and $150,000 for the contents.