Kauai firefighters are trying to determine the cause of a stubborn blaze that took two days to extinguish at Coco Palms Resort.
Crews used heavy equipment Sunday to tear down the remaining building that was badly burned and move the rubble around to allow firefighters to soak the area with foam, Kauai Fire Department Chief Robert Westerman said in a statement.
The work was completed and the fire was deemed extinguished at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, he said.
A fire investigator also was at the scene Sunday, gathering information. A damage estimate was not available.
The fire started at about noon Friday and was contained by 2:15 p.m. On Saturday two large excavators were brought in to tear down the main lobby and adjoining offices to allow firefighters to soak those areas.
Westerman said the fire destroyed the main lobby and adjoining offices and badly burned the breezeway of a connecting building.
A signature giant conch shell sculpture that had hung above the breezeway since the early 1970s was also destroyed in the blaze, as well as a second-floor wing of the hotel’s lagoon building, Coco Palms site manager and tour guide Bob Jasper said Saturday.
Both of those elements destroyed in the blaze were to be preserved in the latest attempt to eventually reopen the resort, he added.
"It’s just a lot of history gone," Jasper said. "We’re just real sad. Everybody’s just heartbroken."
The Coco Palms is the only Kauai hotel that did not reopen after suffering severe damage from Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
Elvis Presley filmed the wedding scene of the movie "Blue Hawaii" at the Coco Palms in 1961 and sang "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" there. The hotel was originally built in 1953 on grounds that were once the home of Deborah Kapule Kekaiha‘akulou, Kauai’s last reigning queen.
Several attempts to reopen the hotel over the years have failed.
In May new developers announced plans to rebuild the resort and open it as a Hyatt hotel in 2017.
The Coco Palms Hui LLC is seeking about $125 million in financing to buy the land and redevelop the hotel.
"We are keeping our heads up, and we’re going to move forward towards our goal of getting the Coco Palms Hotel back up and running," company principal Tyler Greene said in a message Saturday. "We really appreciate all the care and support the community of Kauai has shown and also how quickly the Kauai Fire Department and Police Department responded to the call. We’re going to keep charging."
