Restaurant fire closes Ala Moana businesses

Several dozen restaurants and stores were forced to shut down at Ala Moana Center Thursday after burning oil in an unattended wok ignited a fire in the kitchen of Panda Express at the Makai Market Food Court.

A woman working in the kitchen of the eatery sustained minor burns and was treated by city paramedics. She declined to go to the hospital.

The fire broke out at about 10:20 a.m., when customer traffic was light.

Waikiki resident Rob Hatch said he was walking through the food court when "all of a sudden I saw black smoke everywhere. … The first few minutes were very intense. Everyone was trying to get out."

Dante Baguinon Jr., a supervisor at Paradise Cafe in the food court, praised mall security staff for keeping panic down and making sure everyone got out.

"Nobody is stuck in there, that’s the main thing," he said from the mall parking lot, where he and scores of other employees milled around as they awaited instructions from superiors.

Most of the 30 eateries at the popular food court reopened at about 3:30 p.m., five hours after the fire, but about 20 restaurants and other stores remained closed as a result of water and/or smoke damage, Ala Moana officials said.

Among them was stationery store Papyrus, on the second floor above Makai Market.

Manager Melody Naungayan was standing at the front of the store Thursday afternoon explaining to customers that they would have to return later to take advantage of a five-day, friends-and-family discount promotion that had begun the day before.

"We lost a lot of business," she said. "We had a lot of regular clients coming by to shop."

Once allowed back in the store around noon, employees found smoke throughout the store and water damage in storage areas toward the back.

"We’re trying to assess the dollar amount," Naungayan said as cleaning crews hired by Ala Moana management helped remove water, which covered the stockroom floor.

Ceiling tiles had fallen, and boxes of paper merchandise appeared to be damaged.

"We have smoke and soot all over," she added.

At Reyn Spooner, Susie Metivier said this was the first fire she had experienced in some three decades as Ala Moana store manager.

Metivier said the aloha wear specialty shop sustained smoke damage throughout. As of Thursday afternoon Metivier said she could not tell how much permanent damage the store suffered.

And then there was the loss of at least half a day’s business.

Some of the businesses that sustained water and smoke damage on the second and third floors are above Panda Express’ exhaust duct, which snakes its way to an airway on the roof of the mall.

Several stores, including Juicy Couture and Kate Spade on the second floor and American Eagle Outfitters and Aeropostale on the third floor, had to rely on firefighters’ giant fans to suck out the smoky air.

Scott Creel, group marketing manager for General Growth Properties, Ala Moana’s management firm, said a cleanup company contracted by the mall was dispatched immediately.

Creel said it was too early to give any damage estimates or even project when the last of the businesses could reopen.

"Obviously, it’s our goal to get all our stores back up as quickly as possible," he said.

The food court did not appear to be damaged, apart from Panda Express, he said.

Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig said there were actually two fires.

The first was caused by overheated oil in the wok. Firefighters "were able to knock the flames … pretty quickly" since employees had put a lid over the burning wok, Seelig said.

The range hood above the burner caught fire, however, and that fire spread into the ventilation system. "Flames and heat jumped up into the hood system before the occupants pulled the range hood extinguishing system," Seelig said. "Flames that got into the ducting caused the accumulation of grease … to start to burn."

That’s what caused the large amount of black smoke that could be seen billowing from the roof for miles.

Even after firefighters were able to control the second fire, they spent at least two hours putting out smouldering sections of the ducting, Seelig said.

Firefighters used as much caution as possible putting out the second blaze and, after consulting with Ala Moana officials, chose to "introduce water from above through one of the secondary access panels to be able to flood the duct."

Seelig said restaurants are required to have their range hoods inspected twice a year by third-party fire-protection companies, which are supposed to clean the hoods of any built-up grease. Fire inspectors had not checked the inspection records for the Makai Market Panda Express as of Thursday afternoon, he said. "That’s going to take us another day or so."

Makai Market restaurants still closed Thursday night, besides Panda Express, were Hibachi, Yummy Korean BBQ, Soba-ya and Sbarro. Other mall businesses still closed were Cinnabon, Curry House Coco Ichibanya, Sam Goody, See’s Candies, Taco Del Mar, Papyrus, Reyn’s, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Hermes, the Disney Store, Bag ‘n’ Baggage, American Eagle Outfitters and Aeropostale.

Arwed Kober and Melanie Schuetz of Frankfurt, Germany, were disappointed when a security guard told them Makai Market would be closed for a bit longer Thursday afternoon.

The first-time Hawaii visitors were impressed by the array of choices as they walked through the food court Wednesday night, just as the eateries were closing, and had hoped to eat lunch there Thursday.

Hawaii News Now video: Unattended wok sparks blaze, causes evacuation at Ala Moana food court