A fire Saturday in Iraq that engulfed two big tents and sent a thick column of black smoke into the desert sky destroyed a bunch of recreation equipment used by the 29th Support Battalion of the Hawai'i National Guard.

The morale, welfare and recreation tents at Logistical Support Area Anaconda about 50 miles north of Baghdad housed a TV room/karaoke parlor, fitness machines and weight room, library, pool table and kitchen.

Maj. David "Duke" Kahanu, the 29th Support Battalion's executive officer, said the fire, reported about 8:30 a.m., likely was due to an electrical short. No one was injured.

Within five minutes, two large circus tents that housed the equipment were fully engulfed in fire, and efforts to limit its spread were not possible, said Kahanu, a fire captain with the Honolulu Fire Department at the Mililani Mauka station.

Kahanu wasn't able to lend his expertise to the firefighting effort; he had returned to Iraq from Rest and Recuperation leave that evening — about 10 hours after the fire.

"The soldiers here are now motivated to get the tent up and running again, so we can enjoy the comforts we once had," Kahanu said by e-mail.

Maj. Chuck Anthony, spokesman for the Hawai'i National Guard here, yesterday said an assessment still was being made of the loss.

The 29th Support Battalion and Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry are the two biggest Hawai'i contingents at LSA Anaconda, representing more than 1,000 soldiers.

They will still be able to use a base-wide weight-lifting and exercise facility.

The fire comes at the six-month point in the 29th Brigade Combat Team's yearlong deployment to Iraq and Kuwait, and at the year marker for activation of the citizen soldiers.

Soldiers are glad half their war duty is over, but realize they still have half to go.

The Guard recently started Operation Uplift, asking people to write letters of support to the deployed Hawai'i soldiers.

"(It's) just to let people know that they're not forgotten," Anthony said. "It lets them stay focused and let them know that the folks at home are behind them."

State Adjutant Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the head of the Hawai'i National Guard, yesterday said "whenever the troops have needed something, they (the public) have responded."

Lee said Brig. Gen. Joe Chaves, who commands the 29th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, told headquarters in Hawai'i "that the 29th Brigade and the soldiers get 10 times more mail and care packages than anybody else in Iraq, and now they're going to get even more."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.