Fire Capt. Emmit Kane said the fire appeared to have started in an apartment on the ground floor of the five-unit building at 2344 Date St. in McCully.

"Given the fact that most — if not all — of the residents were sleeping when the fire broke out, things could have been a lot worse," Kane said.

He said a woman in her mid- to late-30s received cuts and scrapes when she climbed through a window to escape the fire.

A second woman, believed to be in her late 80s, was rescued by firefighters from one of the ground-floor units and was being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, Kane said.

Both women were reported to be in good condition after being taken to hospitals by city paramedics, Kane said.

The building that burned had three apartments on the ground floor and two on the second story. Three of the five units were substantially damaged by the fire, but all five were deemed uninhabitable, Kane said. The Red Cross was contacted to provide food and clothing, and to find shelter for some of those displaced by the fire.

The building that burned was part of a three-building complex, Kane said. The one that burned was built of concrete blocks on the ground floor with single-wall, wooden construction on the second floor.

"Fortunately, the other buildings are built entirely of concrete block," Kane said. "They suffered some exposure damage but didn't catch fire," he said.

According to preliminary estimates, the fire caused about $250,000 worth of damage to the building and about $50,000 in damage to its contents.

"One of the residents said they were awakened by a smoke detector, and the (Fire) Department really encourages the use of smoke detectors," Kane said.

Fire investigators were still at the scene this morning and had not yet determined what caused the fire, which was reported at 2:56 a.m.

Approximately 35 firefighters from the McCully, Waikiki, Pawa'a, Makiki and Kaimuki fire stations battled the blaze, bringing it under control at 3:11 a.m. The last of the firefighters left the area at about 6:30 this morning, Kane said.