Blaze in Waikiki kitchen doused quickly
A small fire at the Diamond Head Vistas condominium tower in Waikiki early Friday morning was confined to the kitchen of a single unit, a Honolulu fire official said.
Firefighters responded to the call on either the eighth or ninth floor of the building on Pualani Way about 12:49 a.m., said fire Capt. Terry Seelig.
Because no one was home at the time and all windows were closed, the fire grew slowly and was quickly put out, he said. The fire was declared under control at 1:16 a.m. and extinguished at 1:21.
No one was injured. The fire caused about $15,000 to the unit, Seelig said. Indications are the fire began because people moving into the unit left boxes on a stove top and the occupants might have bumped the control knobs, accidentally turning it on, he said.
Kidnapper extradited from mainland
A Waipahu man wanted for kidnapping a prostitute has been extradited back to Honolulu after federal agents captured him last month in Texas.
Joseph Vaimili, 29, had been on the run for more than a year. He skipped out on $250,000 bail two days before his trial began in July 2010 in Honolulu for kidnapping, terroristic threatening and promoting prostitution.
His trial went on without him, and he was found guilty of all charges.
According to the victim’s testimony, she met Vaimili in a Waikiki nightclub, and he made her work the streets of Waikiki and took all her money. Vaimili beat the woman with a belt and drove her to a remote pineapple field where he threatened her with a gun.
A U.S. Marshals fugitive task force tracked Vaimili to Nevada, California and Texas. Marshals found him Sept. 27 at a Houston home. He was being held at the Harris County Jail in Houston and was arrested Thursday at the main police station in Honolulu. He appeared in court Friday. He remains at Oahu Community Correctional Center and faces up to 50 years in prison.
