The fire was reported at 10:35 p.m., and traffic was halted for blocks around while firefighters fought the blaze.

Raymond Heaukulani, 26, was visiting his brother and two roommates on the top floor — the ninth — when they smelled smoke.

They checked their kitchen to see if that was the source of the smoke. Then one of them looked out the lanai door and saw fire and smoke coming from the sixth floor, said Heaukulani.

They ran from the apartment and Heaukulani said he began pounding on doors and ringing doorbells, telling people to get out.

The four got to the fire escape stairs and headed down.

At the sixth floor, Heaukulani said he felt compelled to stop.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "I 'felt' something ... so I opened the door."

He saw an elderly woman lying on the floor outside her apartment. She cried for help.

He said he didn't think about what to do.

"I just saw the lady," then he thought to himself, "lady, door, out," he said.

With his friend Bobbie Baer, he helped the woman down the stairs to the lobby.

By the time they arrived, she was unresponsive, he said.

"I just wasn't sure if she was going to make it," said Heaukulani.

From there, security guards took over, then fire and ambulance workers.

The fire was under control by about 11:10 p.m.

Near midnight, scores of people were milling around outside, some from the evacuated building, others who had heard about the fire and came to see.

At least two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.

On Thursday, fire gutted five units in a Makiki apartment complex. No one was injured, but five families were displaced.

Damage from that fire was estimated at $1 million, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Emmit Kane. HFD said the cause of the fire was electrical, probably a pedestal oscillating fan.

Outside the Coral Terrace, Heaukulani was feeling the aftermath of his ordeal.

He said the elderly woman had sounded strong when she called for help.

"That was probably her last breath," he said.