Mr Hapi, a special-needs worker at Flaxmere College, lived with his three sons, aged 9, 12 and 14 in the house where five generations of his family had been raised.
Though he had put a fire screen around the fireplace that night, it wasn't enough to protect the house from going up in smoke. "If there's anybody out there that has an open fire, they need to be taken away. A lot of old people still like those open fires, but they're bad news."
The house wasn't insured and Mr Hapi still lives on the property but in a house bus with his sons as they look to start over.
It's been a double blow for the family after losing their grandmother just a week before the tragedy, but he says the support from their community and the Mormon church had been humbling.
"It's sad, but I just have to move forward. I've made a promise to make it liveable again for the family to come back to and stay."
He said it was a blessing that no one was home that night and couldn't stress enough how important it was to have smoke alarms and home insurance.