Shirokiya store, school sites of fires
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu firefighters were kept busy yesterday morning with fires at the Shirokiya Ala Moana store and at Radford High School. No one was hurt in either fire.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Shirokiya fire at Ala Moana Center caused more than $30,000 in damage to the store and merchandise, but was contained to a small area because of the store's sprinkler system.
Firefighters and workers began removing excess water after a fire was extinguished at Shirokiya Ala Moana.
The store, except for the toy section, opened for business yesterday despite the strong smell of smoke lingering throughout the building.
Fire crews were called to the store at 7:36 a.m. and a total of seven units were needed to put out the smoldering fire.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said the fire started in a stockroom near a heat gun used for shrink wrapping, but the cause remains under investigation.
Although the sprinkler system helped bring the fire under control, it caused water damage to the stockroom and store's toy section. The water also damaged an Ala Moana Center management office one floor below.
"We're slowly cleaning up and trying to air out the store," said store manager Walter Watanabe.
The fire at Radford High School took place in a classroom of a four-room wooden building. Football players using the school's playing field yesterday noticed smoke coming from the rear of the classroom around 11:15 a.m.
"Two of the parents, one of them an off-duty firefighter, used a garden hose to shoot water into the building," Tejada said.
Tejada said the parents' actions helped contain the fire to one side of the classroom until firefighters arrived three minutes later.
"If it wasn't for their help, the fire would have spread quickly," he said.
Damage was estimated at $30,000 to the structure and $15,000 to the contents.
Tejada said the fire was linked to a faulty wall fan.
