Fire gutted a one-bedroom Makiki apartment last night, damaged at least two others and sent dozens of people fleeing from the high-rise, as flames shot out of the unit and travelled upward with the wind.

Forty firefighters helped put out the blaze, which started about 7:42 p.m. in a unit on the seventh floor at Pi'ikoi Tower. Units on the sixth and eighth floors sustained fire and water damage, and soot was visible on several upper floors on the outside of the building. The blaze was under control by 8:08 p.m.

No one was injured, but many were reduced to tears and visibly shaken as they watched from the street as the fire raged.

Minutes after the fire was put out, Catherine Strazzeri looked up at the scorched 19-story building — and cried.

Strazzeri and her husband, Steve, fled their 11th floor apartment so quickly, they had to leave their cat behind.

They feared the worst.

"It was so hot up there, we had to leave quick," Steve Strazzeri said. "The cat wouldn't come out from under the bed."

"Flames were leaping up the building," his wife added.

HFD Capt. Terry Seelig said the blaze started in unit 707, which was vacant while undergoing renovations. No one was in the unit.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and officials did not immediately have an estimate of damage to the building.

The Fire Department was also investigating whether fire alarms in the building went off. Several said they heard no alarm, but firefighters first to arrive said they did hear alarms.

The resident manager of the building told Seelig the alarms had been faulty in the past. Seelig also said the building had no sprinkler system.

Howard Lum, who lives on the 11th floor, said he smelled the fire first. He went into the hall and saw nothing, then went to his lanai door, opened his shades and saw flames shooting up from below.

"I called 911," Lum said, "then I knocked on every door and told them to get the hell out of there." Then, Lum peeked quickly back into his own apartment and saw embers falling onto the carpet.

Michele Arenas arrived home from a day of work at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children, only to find her street blocked off and a gaping hole in her apartment building.

She also lives on the 11th floor, and started crying when she thought of her dog. He was in the apartment alone.

While many residents from the high-rise watched the drama from the street, some stayed in their apartments. The building was not fully evacuated, though many decided to leave on their own, Seelig said. Those who stayed watched the fire from their lanai.

Seelig said some of the residents who stayed felt they were trapped. But he said the building has an open hallway and stairways on both sides, which meant everyone should have left.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.