The state Department of Health's downtown headquarters will be closed to the public today after someone doused and ignited a flammable liquid at the entrance to the building last night.

The fire was confined to the entryway to the building at 1250 Punchbowl St., but it did between $10,000 and $12,000 in damage.

Janice Okubo, department spokeswoman, said the building will be closed to the public today and reopen at 7:45 a.m. tomorrow. Employees are being asked to report to work today.

"We need (today) to clean up and get the lobby area ready so we can open (on Thursday)," Okubo said last night.

Fire spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane said the fire, which was reported about 6:30 p.m., was deliberately set. He said that a gas can was found in a trash can near the entrance to the building and that the glass front door was broken.

"The burn patterns are consistent with a flammable liquid," Kane said. "The front door was secured. However, the front pane was shattered."

Kane said it was not known if the arsonist broke the glass or if it shattered because of the fire.

Between 10 and 15 Health Department workers were in the building when the fire broke out, but no one was injured. One employee reported hearing a "popping" sound just before the fire was discovered.

Michelle Hill, deputy director of behavioral health administration, was working on the building's third floor when another employee told her of the fire. She and other workers evacuated the building through a stairway that faces Punchbowl Street.

Once outside, Hill said, she and others believed the fire was more serious than it was.

"The smoke was pretty pervasive and it was rather pungent and very dark," Hill said. "When we were on the outside of the building, you could not see the interior and the lights are on at all times.

"No one was injured and that's a very good thing."

Department Deputy Director Susan Jackson said there are no security cameras near the entrance to the building.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.