Gas-line break jams Waikiki streets, idles tourists
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sewer workers who caused a gas leak that forced 500 people to evacuate a Waikiki hotel and surrounding businesses yesterday knew they were working around a synthetic natural gas line but somehow ruptured it anyway.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We're still trying to assess what happened, but we knew the line was there," said Bobby Balais, project manager for Delta Construction Corporation.
A police officer tells a driver that she can't go into Waikiki because of the danger from a punctured gas line.
Workers who dug a hole in Kalakaua Avenue with a back hoe were trying to find a leak in a sewer pipe they had recently installed, Balais said. The eight-inch diameter gas line may have shifted inside the hole, then was struck by the equipment, he said.
The line puncture, near the intersection of Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues just after 9 a.m., sent up a plume of gas and dust. Police immediately closed off Kalakaua and surrounding streets, and traffic backed up for hours along Ala Moana, Ala Wai and Kapiolani boulevards.
A crew from The Gas Company patched the gas line and police reopened the streets at 11:15 a.m. Two lanes on the makai side of Kalakaua remained closed as the gas line and sewer work continued.
Gas Company spokesman Steve Golden said the hole was small enough that gas pressure did not have to be turned off, and customer service was not interrupted.
Five fire trucks, a ladder company and two hazardous materials crews were dispatched to the scene.
Waikiki Terrace Hotel guest Gracie McCullough was in the shower when the Fire Department ordered the 242-room building evacuated as a safety precaution.
"Someone was pounding on the door, so I knew something was up," the visitor from Long Island said. "My first thought was that it was a fire."
She and her husband, Myles, missed their afternoon flight to Maui as they waited with other guests near the statue of King David Kalakaua across from the hotel.
"I don't like sitting around doing nothing, and that's what I'm doing now," said Renee Reiser, a visitor from Chicago who was at breakfast when the evacuation was ordered and couldn't return to her room.
Alan DuVall had just checked out of the hotel and was waiting for friends to pick him up. They couldn't get through the blocked streets, and he ended up sitting along Kalakaua with four pieces of luggage.
Hotel workers passed out soft drinks and bottled water to ease the discomfort of mid-day heat.
"People spend a lot of money to come here and vacation, and to be woken up rudely and told to evacuate is a big inconvenience," hotel general manager Jernell Mendonca said. "It's difficult, but who could foresee this?"
About 200 guests and 30 hotel workers left the building calmly as firefighters explained the situation to them, she said.
"There was no panicking, and everyone was out in about 15 minutes," Mendonca said. "I'm very proud of my staff."
Fire Dept. Capt. Richard Soo said about 500 people were evacuated from the hotel, offices at Fort DeRussy, and several nearby businesses: Keo's restaurant, ABC Store No. 26, Ferrari Rentals and an ARCO gas station, all on Kalakaua.
Ferrari Rentals vice president Jorisa Colivas said the leaking gas had a foul odor but that she found a good way to deal with the disruption. "I just went out to have breakfast until they fixed it," she said.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
