"It smelled funny, like something burning," said Burns, a visitor from Anchorage, Alaska.

He continued, "I looked up and saw two other people with the security guard and looking all around. I jumped up and saw the fire in the nortrhwest corner area where they had construction materials. The fire was eight or nine feet high, maybe six or seven feet wide. It was flowing continuously so I knew something was feeding it. I heard them say call 911 so I went back up to get my wife."

The alarm at the 26-story Royal Kuhio Condominium, 2240 Kuhio Ave., went off about 15-20 seconds later at 8:25 p.m., said Burns.

A firefighter suffered a finger injury and a woman was treated for breathing difficulties related to the evacuation rather than smoke by city Emergency Medical Services personnel and taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital. No other injuries were reported.

Eight companies responded to the three-alarm fire, which was reported under control at 8:45 p.m.

Police closed Kuhio Avenue between Royal Hawaiian and Seaside avenues for about 90 minutes.

Mary Jo Burns heard the alarm and was ready to evacuate before her husband, Mike, returned to their 26th-floor time-sharing unit.

Mary Jo Burns and Barbara Conrady of Garden Grove, Calif., were seated on a bench on Kuhio Avenue, talking about the walking down 26 floors.

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Earle Kealoha said a hazardous materials unit was checking five-gallon containers on the seventh-floor.