Fire at nail salon shutters nearby business operations

A fire at a Manoa Marketplace nail salon Sunday morning, started by a gas stove used near bottles of acetone, has shuttered businesses, caused an undetermined amount of damage and upset neighboring business owners.

"So many of us could have been in peril," said Shelley Choy, co-director of Iyen­gar Yoga Hono­lulu, who was conducting a class with about a dozen students two doors away from the salon, which is on the second floor of the shopping center.

"I heard a boom. I thought a farmers market cart fell over," Choy said.

She stepped outside when she heard voices, and saw smoke coming from the nail salon.

Fire Capt. Terry Seelig said employees of Manoa Nail told fire personnel that they had been cooking on a gas stove near bottles of acetone, which generated a fireball, destroying the salon, causing $500,000 in damage to the structure and its contents. The acetone is used to remove nail polish.

A female employee received minor burns, Seelig said.

The fire affected at least four other businesses.

Choy said customers and vendors at the farmers market below the balcony of the salon seemed oblivious to the fire. Clearing them away took 45 minutes.

The charred interior of the salon was visible Monday through its blackened windows.

Cooking on a gas stove with a small amount of fuel, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, is not a violation of the city’s fire code, Seelig said. The legal use of the stove would still depend on operating it appropriately, "not close to combustibles," he said.

Firefighters took 2 1⁄2 hours to bring the 9:50 a.m. blaze under control.

A Bank of Hawaii branch office below the salon was damaged when a water line melted, damaging the ceiling, floors and equipment, a bank spokes­man said. The bank will be closed for most of the week, he said. No damage estimate was available.

Wet ceiling debris was piled up on the bank’s floors Monday while crews worked to clean up the mess.

Seelig said firefighters made exploratory holes through the roof and ceilings to ensure fire hadn’t spread through the attic above the yoga studio and at the office next door of Kusao & Kura­ha­shi Inc., planning and zoning consultants. Some water damage was evident at both.

Recently renovated Pae­sano restaurant will remain closed while the smell of smoke is removed.

Ray Madigan, co-director of Iyen­gar Yoga, said its insurance probably can’t cover all the damage.

Karen Fleming, property manager for Manoa Marketplace, declined to comment about the use of a stove. "We’re just trying to get people back into business as soon as possible," she said.