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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Parking garage blaze sends workers fleeing

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A small but smoky fire this morning in the parking garage of the Pacific Guardian Center office complex in downtown Honolulu sent dozens of office workers streaming out of the building.

Capt. Kenison Tejada, a Honolulu Fire Department spokesman, said the fire was confined to a 20-by-40-foot storage area on the ninth floor of the parking garage that separates the center's twin office towers.

None of the office workers or firefighters was injured.

"We got the initial call from someone across (Alakea Street) who saw smoke coming out the side of the building," Tejada said.

About the same time, workers began to smell smoke and started pulling the handles on fire alarms inside the building, Tejada said.

Building tenants and its management staff put a pre-set evacuation plan into motion and both towers quickly emptied, Tejada said.

The displaced officer workers lined the four corners of the building complex which is bordered by Queen, Bishop and Alakea streets and by Nimitz Highway on the makai side. Most of them glanced up at the mirrored glass towers and spent the time drinking coffee and chatting with co-workers.

Acting fire Battalion Chief Leon Laba said the two-alarm fire was reported about 7:25 a.m. and was declared under control 20 minutes later. Tejada said a total of eight fire companies responded to the fire. A second alarm is standard whenever a fire in a high-rise building is reported.

Police blocked off Queen Street, between Bishop and Alakea streets, and fire trucks lined the mauka lane of Queen Street in front of the office complex. Two lanes of Bishop Street were also blocked off to accommodate fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.

The all-clear was sounded about 8:20 a.m. and a wave of workers swarmed past firefighters walking out of the building.

A damage estimate and cause of the fire were not immediately available.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-7412.