Six engines and some 30 Honolulu Fire Department personnel responded yesterday to a fire at Aloha Tower Marketplace that resulted in an estimated $80,000 in damage.

Although the fire was extinguished quickly, firefighters remained at the scene for several hours to control water damage caused by the sprinkler system at the Hong Kong Harbor View Restaurant, where the fire began in the kitchen, said HFD spokesman Capt. Gary Lum.

The fire was reported at 11:24 a.m. Lum said it was confined to the oven area.

"The sprinkler system was activated in the restaurant, so that contained the fire," said Lum. "Right now there is some water damage to the restaurant from the sprinkler system, and to the office just below the second-floor restaurant.

"It was a two-alarm fire, but the first companies were able to handle it, so they sent back the second companies."

Customers and employees were evacuated from the restaurant and the Star of Honolulu dinner-cruise business office below it. Businesses adjacent to the restaurant and cruise office remained open, Lum said.

Lum said fire and smoke caused little destruction. The major damage to the restaurant and the office beneath it came from the sprinklers, he said. Damage to the structure was estimated at $50,000. Damage to the contents was estimated at $30,000.

Firefighters, who arrived on the scene within two minutes of the alarm, were hampered to some extent by traffic congestion and the fact that they had to carry equipment to the second floor, said Lum.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.