Kaimuki fire destroys building; roads close
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fire destroyed an abandoned building in Kaimuki last night and forced police to shut down several roads after thick smoke reduced visibility to nearly zero.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
The fire at 2909 Wai'alae Ave. was reported about 7:30 p.m. Witnesses said the fire began near the rear of the wooden structure that once housed the Vintage Isle antique shop, then quickly spread.
Witnesses say the fire began near the rear of the vacant structure at 2909 Wai'alae Ave. The building once housed the Vintage Isle antique store.
Flames billowed high into the air and nearly reached the H-1 Freeway, which runs above the burning structure.
Donna Ching was taking the Kapi'olani Boulevard off-ramp in the westbound direction when she saw the flames.
"I was like, wow, that's a really big fire because if you could feel the heat from the freeway, the flames must be 50 feet high," Ching said. "I've never seen a fire that big."
Craig Champion, who manages an apartment building next to the burned-out structure, told police he smelled smoke and saw three people running from the structure. The three ran into a second-floor room of an adjacent abandoned building, Champion said.
"They were either there trying to put it out, or I don't know," Champion said. "But my gut feeling says, yeah, they had something to do with it."
Police questioned a man, woman and teenage boy, but made no arrests last night.
Champion said the vacant buildings next to his have been a magnet for homeless people and drug users since the buildings were vacated about a year ago.
"It's been a nightmare," he said. "Everybody's concerned."
Fire investigators were at the scene late last night to look into the cause of the fire. Fire spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said it was too early to say if the fire was the result of arson.
"There's no power to the building, so we're not sure if somebody might have been in there. There are a lot different things that it could have been," Tejada said. "We're not saying that it was intentionally set at this time. If somebody was in there using candles or somehow tapping power off of someplace else and there was electric current in there, the fire could be accidental."
He said that investigators were also trying to come up with a damage estimate last night.
The thick smoke and firefighting equipment led police to close Wai'alae Avenue at Kapi'olani Boulevard for three hours. Police also detoured motorists at Kapi'olani and Harding Avenue and at King Street and Kapi'olani.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com
