Okei Muka helped prevent a fire from spreading in his neighbor's apartment at 735 McCully St. Muka shot water from a garden hose through the apartment's windows. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Before the firefighters arrived, Tejada said, Muka stuck a garden hose into the apartment's bedroom windows and stopped the fire from spreading.

Tejada said most of the damage was confined to the apartment's bedroom and bathroom, but he said there was smoke damage and blistering to the paint throughout the one-bedroom unit.

The woman who lives in the apartment was not home when the fire began, Tejada said, adding that the cause of the blaze was an unattended candle. Damage was estimated at $55,000 to the building and contents.

None of other seven apartments in the building was damaged, he said. He credited Muka as well as the smoke alarm with preventing more serious damage.

"What we're trying to stress is the smoke detector allowed early enough warning where we were able to get the fire before it was able to really spread," he said.