Power strip takes blame in house blaze

A fire that killed two cats and destroyed a three-bedroom house occupied by a military couple at Pearl City Peninsula on Thursday is believed to have been accidental and to have originated in the living room.

The 7:30 a.m. fire caused about $50,000 in damage to the Lehua Avenue structure and its contents, said Capt. Terry Seelig, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman. The cause appeared to be have been electrical because the blaze began in the vicinity of a power strip in which various electrical appliances were plugged, Seelig said.

A woman who was asleep when the fire began escaped injury and ran back to retrieve several of her pets, including two dogs. Seelig said people should not run back into a building on fire at any time.

Find less than grisly than had been thought

Honolulu police and state law enforcement officials have determined that what was reported to be a severed human hand found at Goat Island off Malaekahana was actually a dried squid.

A woman reported that she saw the hand on the island over the weekend and again Thursday, a Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman said. Officers with the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement then asked HPD homicide detectives for assistance. HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Thursday afternoon, however, that the object was a dried squid.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Police seek driver in hit-run accident involving mo-ped

Hawaii County police are asking for the public’s help in finding the driver of a vehicle that critically injured a mo-ped driver in Kona.

A witness told police a southbound vehicle on Queen Kaahumanu Highway was turning left onto Kealakehe Parkway when it hit the mo-ped about 8:05 p.m. Sunday and drove off.

The mo-ped driver sustained severe head injuries and was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he is listed in critical condition, police said.

Police described the vehicle as possibly a dark-colored pickup truck or SUV. It probably has front-end damage and may have a broken or cracked windshield, police said.

Police ask that anyone with information about the incident to call officer Josiah Coe at 326-4646, ext. 254.