Advertiser Staff
A 36-year-old woman is suspected of starting an early morning fire that gutted her fourth-floor Waipahu apartment yesterday.
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| Fire gutted the top floor of this Pupuole Street apartment building in Waipahu, with water damage reported in lower apartments as well.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
No injuries were reported from the 1:13 a.m. fire at 94-333 Pupuole St., an apartment building owned by Ujimori Realty. The damage to unit No. 402 is estimated at $100,000 to the structure and $30,000 to contents. Three other units in the building sustained smoke and water damage. The Hawaii Chapter of the American Red Cross was assisting 11 adults and 11 children from six families with temporary shelter, food and clothing.
Witnesses saw the woman on the balcony of her unit, a few feet away from the flames, police said. She fled the scene and was later located hiding under a blanket in a nearby park. She was taken to Castle Medical Center for a mental health evaluation and may face arrest for first-degree criminal property damage upon her release from the hospital.
The woman’s 17-year-old son, who was asleep in the apartment when the fire started, is being cared for by relatives.
One of the family’s two dogs died in the fire, police said.
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