A hula halau was evacuated Saturday afternoon after a car hit a gas meter in Kakaako.

Halau Kamamolikolehua was just beginning class at about 2:30 p.m. when a white volvo hit the meter fronting the Kamani Street building, said student Gabriel Shibata, who called firefighters.

His mother heard the crash and shouted for everyone to leave the building, he said.

“It was pouring out,” Shibata said of the hissing sound from the damaged meter. “It was like a deflating bounce house.”

The building, at 439 Kamani St., also houses a bakery called Kapuakea Products and an office for Diamond Parking Services, but the halau were the only people inside the building at the time.

Musicians with the halau practiced in a driveway across the street while firefighters investigated.