Honolulu firefighters responded twice Tuesday to an accidental fire in the storage area of the sub-parking lot of Ala Moana Center that caused approximately $730,000 in damage.

Eleven units with 45 firefighters responded to a 30-by-20-foot fire in a storage area on the Diamond Head side of the shopping center’s sub-parking level at about 1:50 a.m., Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Scot Seguirant said. Seven units with 26 firefighters responded again at 11:36 a.m. when smoldering wood behind a hollow concrete wall reignited the fire, Seguirant said.

“The fire was determined to be caused by arcing in the connection where an extension cord was used to charge a motorized golf cart,” Seguirant said. “The safety message here is that we don’t recommend that extension cords be used as permanent wiring.”

Seguirant said thick black smoke was coming from the parking area when the first unit arrived.

Firefighters brought that fire under control at about 2:55 a.m. and extinguished it at 3:52 a.m., he said. HFD briefly issued a third alarm for the blaze, but the extra personnel and resources were turned away when firefighters believed that the fire was under control.

Seguirant said the fire likely rekindled because it was “so deep-seated and difficult to see.”

“It was intense but not from a heat standpoint. It was more of a visibility issue and communications issue since the fire was at the very lowest level of a thick concrete parking structure,” he said.

However, Seguirant said the second fire was much smaller and quickly extinguished. The fire chief left the scene by 2:12 p.m., he said.

Ala Moana Center said in a statement, “There was a flare-up of the original fire that took place and it was taken care of immediately by the Honolulu Fire Department. There were no injuries and no effect on business. The shopping center will remain open.”

Damage was estimated at $550,000 to the structure and $180,000 to its contents, which included maintenance and operations equipment.

No one was injured in either fire. Seguriant said the location of the fires was not near any Ala Moana Center stores.