Tag Archives: Hawaii

Apartment Building, Residential

Honolulu, HI – Fire at sixth-floor apartment unit extinguished by sprinkler system

On Saturday, April 22, the Honolulu Fire Department said they responded to a 911 call at 8:14 p.m.

The call indicated that there was a building fire at the location of the Country Club Village complex in the Moanalua area.

When fire personnel arrived on the scene at 8:18 p.m., they discovered water flowing out from a sixth-floor apartment of a 30-story building.

HPD personnel noticed that while the water was running out of the apartment, there did not seem to be fire or smoke emanating from the building.

Fire personnel made their way to the sixth-floor apartment. When they identified which apartment, they were able to gain access.

HPD confirmed that there were no occupants and proceeded to locate the fire.

However, what they found was not a fire because the sprinkler system had fully extinguished the fire prior to their arrival, according to HPD.

A portion of the fire personnel crew dispatched to cover the fire remained on the scene to secure the sprinklers and prevent more water from flowing into the apartment and the building.

Fire personnel also went the extra mile to assist with removing water from the building so that residents could return to their homes.

HPD did report that the elevator shaft became flooded due to the sprinkler system’s response to the fire, and the building was without elevator car service until the elevator company can repair the water damage and place them back into service.

HPD reported that they closed this case by 11:45 p.m.

HFD fully endorses the use of fire sprinklers to help mitigate the damages that fires can cause, and they have provided a few safety tips to help protect you and your family from a fire.

Ensure that your home has an adequate number of smoke alarms. These are essential for early warning detection of smoke related to fires. Having a warning system is the best way to increase the chances that you and your family have enough time to evacuate.

The HFD link for information on smoke alarms provides detailed information on how to maximize your smoke alarms.

The informational site also provides details on the various types of smoke alarms and the different ways to use them.

Retail, Shopping Mall

Honolulu, HI – Sprinkler system activated for electrical fire at shopping center; No injuries reported

Honolulu firefighters responded to a fire at Ala Moana Shopping Center on Tuesday morning after a security guard noticed smoke coming from a loading dock area.

Officials said the two-alarm fire started around 8:10 a.m. in a basement storage room belonging to the Longs Drugs at the mall.

HFD said an electrical panel in the room had shorted and sparked a fire which spread to flammable items nearby.

Firefighters said the storage room, located directly below the store was full of boxes and merchandise, which hindered fire suppression. HFD said fortunately, the sprinkler system was activated and confined flames to an area about 20 feet by 20 feet.

However, officials said the fire was not fully extinguished and that crews had to sift through the room, despite poor visibility and little ventilation, to ensure nothing was smoldering.

HFD said the blaze was extinguished just before 9:30 a.m.

Officials said no injuries were reported.

The estimated cost of damages is unknown at this time and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Office Building, Other Business

Waianae, HI – Sprinkler system helps stop arson attack on office; No injuries reported

Megale Cole is counting his blessings. He said, he is thankful no one was hurt in the early morning attack on his HI Royalty Records office in Waianae.

He was picking up the pieces of charred mementos that survived the firebomb less then 12 hours prior.

He held up an old photo of himself in his army uniform from basic training more than two decades earlier, the edges charred.

“It’s one of the few pictures I have leftover from those days. I don’t have many of these. It means a lot to me,” he said, holding the partially burned photograph.

The Army veteran said, his military training kicked in as soon as the firebomb exploded through his office door just before 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22.

“I think my army training is what saved me today. That’s the truth,” Cole said, matter-of-factly.

Cole said, he was working late and stopped to take a break when he heard a crackling noise outside. He said, it sounded like fire so he stood up to check it out.

“I see the crackling through the door. I see the fire, the flames. I see an individual that’s short through the crack in the door,” Cole said. “Next thing I know, I hear the flame, it hits the door and it goes through. lt hits the wall and flame shot off the wall.”

He said, the flames spread to the couch.

“So I hurried up, got my army gear, and put out the fire to the couch. I came back over here and start putting the fire out,” Cole explained as he pointed to the wall above his desk.

That is when the sprinkler system kicked on, helping to put out the fire and minimizing the damage to his office.

“I had a lot of past pictures of my family on the wall so some of that got burnt off. So there’s water damage, computer damage, furniture damage and the carpets of course, it’s a lot of water to drain out.”

But he knows things could have been much worse. Police found evidence from a gasoline bomb once they arrived.

“It was a brick metal Molotov Cocktail bottle. The bottle they used, the Coke bottle, was found here (as he pointed to his desk). It was a metal pipe they used to project it through (the door). We found evidence outside — two pieces of evidence outside,” he said.

Cole got emotional as he talked about the attack he believes may have been racially motivated.

“This was an attack on me as a soldier, as a part-time recruiter, as a veteran, as a father. And again, if this can happen to me here, this can happen to anyone… I don’t hate the person who did this, but I want the world to see this. I wasn’t doing anything wrong but this is our country. This is where it’s at,” Cole said, choking back tears.

Cole said, he spoke to the Honolulu Police Department and the FBI. The investigation is ongoing, according to police.

Other - Retail, Retail

Kapolei, HI – Fire sprinklers at clothing store help put out fire; No injuries reported

A fire broke out on the sales floor at the Ross Dress for Less store in Kapolei today, forcing shoppers and employees to evacuate.

Acting Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Carl Otsuka said four fire sprinkler heads activated to extinguish and prevent a further spread of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

HFD said tonight that the cause of the fire is incendiary and turned over the case to the Honolulu Police Department for further investigation. Damage was estimated at $25,000 to the structure and $75,000 to the contents.

Eight units with 24 firefighters responded to the business at the Kapolei Commons shopping center, 4450 Kapolei Parkway just after 11:50 a.m.

When the first unit arrived, firefighters observed items on fire.

In addition to the sprinkler system, firefighters used a fire extinguisher and brought the flames under control at about noon. The fire was extinguished a few minutes later.

Tamara, who declined to give her last name, said she was in the store at about 11:45 a.m. when she smelled smoke and then saw women’s clothing on fire.

Tamara headed to the front of the store to alert employees when she observed a large fire at the men’s clothing rack in another section of the store.

One of the employees used a fire extinguisher in an attempt to extinguish the blaze but “the flames were growing so fast,” she said. “We had to evacuate.”

Tamara called 911.

Apartment Building, Residential

Honolulu, HI – Single sprinkler head in apartment bedroom closet extinguished fire; No injuries reported

A fire at an apartment building along Farrington Highway remains under investigation, according to the Honolulu Fire Department.

Officials say that on March 9, around 6:02 a.m. HFD responded to a building fire at 86-086 Farrington Highway with 4 units staffed with 11 personnel. The first unit arrived at 6:08 a.m. to find a water flow alarm activation in a seven-story residential apartment building.

Upon further investigation, crews found an extinguished closet fire in a two-bedroom apartment on the third floor.

A single sprinkler head, located in one of the bedroom closets was activated as designed, and extinguished the fire.

No fire suppression efforts were performed by HFD crews at this incident.

Six occupants (two adults, four children) were home at the time. All occupants exited the unit safely with no reported injuries.

Fire damages are estimated to be $550 to the structure and $250 to its contents.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Honolulu, HI – Stove at hotel sparked fire, extinguished by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Honolulu Fire Department investigators determined that a Waikiki hotel fire Thursday was caused by a stove being left on.

HFD Capt. Scot Seguirant said a fire sprinkler system extinguished the fire within minutes after it started at 1:31 p.m. at the 26-story Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites at 1777 Ala Moana Blvd.

The first of six units arrived at 1:35 p.m. and found no signs of smoke or fire from the exterior of the building, but discovered the sprinkler system had activated in unit 2338 and extinguished the kitchen fire by 1:39 p.m., Seguirant said.

Two adults and a child were not in the unit at the time of the fire and no one was hurt.

HFD investigators say the fire was accidental. Damage estimates were not available.

Honolulu police closed two makai-bound lanes on Ala Moana Boulevard, between Hobron and Kahanamoku streets, for about two hours because of the fire.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Kapolei, HI – Warehouse fire stopped thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Authorities say a fire that sparked from a warehouse in Kapolei on Wednesday night was intentionally set.

The blaze started around 8:25 p.m.

The Honolulu Fire Department said the fire started in unit 11 in a building on Kalaeloa Boulevard near the intersection of Malakole Street.

The sprinkler system in the building helped stop the fire from spreading, fire officials said.

Crews extinguished the fire within about 25 minutes.

No injuries were reported.

The cause is under investigation.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Honolulu, HI – Hotel fire sprinkler system keeps fire from spreading; No injuries reported

Honolulu Fire Department investigators have determined that the fire was intentionally set and the investigation has been handed over to the Honolulu Police Department.

Fire officials also provided the estimate of fire damages at $1,765,650 to the building and no injuries were reported for this incident. 

Nearly 60 firefighters rushed to put out a high rise fire in Waikiki on Monday night.

The fire began just after 8:30 p.m. at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue and was discovered in a storage room on the 14th floor. 

According to the Honolulu Fire Department, fire sprinklers kept the flames from spreading.

Those staying at the hotel told KITV4 that the loud speakers that went off during the fire said, “This is not a drill” and instructed them to stay in their units.

The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are being investigated.

No injuries have been reported at this time.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Waikiki, HI – Sprinkler system contained fire to one unit in 38-story high rise fire; No injuries reported

The Honolulu Fire Department says an automated fire sprinkler system stopped the flames from spreading in a blaze at a high-rise in Waikiki late Friday night.

Firefighters responded to a blaze around 10:50 p.m. and no injuries were reported.

Some 22 personnel responded to the 38-story Waikiki Baynan complex on Ohua Avenue.

HFD credits an automated fire sprinkler system with containing the flames to the original unit on the 30th floor of the building.

Hundreds were evacuated after the fire broke out.

“It was pretty orderly. We just went to the fire exit and opened the door and joined the crowd and walked down the stairs,” resident Sheila Palmer said.

It took firefighters less than 40 minutes to completely extinguish the flames.

“One adult male and female were alerted to the fire by an audible pop and the activation of a smoke alarm. They safely escaped the unit without injuries,” HFD officials said. “Another adult male was not in the unit at the time of the fire.”

Meanwhile, fire officials spoke to condo owners and building managers Saturday about the city’s new fire safety ordinance, which passed this May.

It’s a measure intended to avoid deadly fires like the one that broke out in the Marco Polo building in July of 2017.

“The ordinance is very important,” said Kevin Mokulehua, who works for HFD. “We want everyone to remain focused on the intent of having sprinklers: it’s going to save lives; they’re going to save property; and they’re going to allow occupants to get out of a building if there is a fire.”

There are exceptions to the ordinance, but most high-rise residential buildings would need to be retro-fitted with automatic sprinkler systems.

“One of our buildings is below the high-rise standard and one of our buildings is above the high-rise standard so it needs to have those laws applied,” said Thomas Ebner, manager for the Ka Hale Moi condominiums.

He knows just how costly adding sprinklers can be, but agrees with the ordinance.

“The association will have to cover that I am sure, it’s all for the better,” Ebner said. “You need to make sure that everybody is very happy and very safe.”

Fire investigators say Friday’s fire was accidental, sparked by an electrical electrical failure in the microwave.

Total damages to the building and its contents were estimated at $320,000.

“HFD would like to encourage our visitors and residents to discuss and practice their fire evacuation plans. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere,” officials added.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Honolulu, HI – Overnight fire in 43-story condominium building doused by sprinkler system

An automatic fire sprinkler doused a fire at the Keola Lai Condominiums shortly after midnight and one resident sustained a lower leg injury from the incident, Honolulu firefighters said.  Thirty-nine firefighters responded at 12:03 a.m. to the two-alarm building fire at 600 Queen St., said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Scot Seguirant in a statement.  The first unit of firefighters arrived at 12:06 a.m. to discover black smoke emanating from the outside window of an apartment in the 43-story building. Firefighters evacuated the building and located the fire in unit 611. A female resident escaped safely without injuries after smelling the odor of smoke and hearing the sound of the smoke alarm.  The automatic fire sprinklers extinguished the fire at 12:21 a.m. The cause of the fire and estimated cost of damage has yet to be determined “The HFD would like to encourage the public to practice their fire evacuation plans,” Seguirant said. “This allows for quicker recognition and familiarization to what your fire alarm actually sounds like. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.”