Police detained and brought a man to an Oahu hospital for mental evaluation after a fire engulfed an auto body shop Thursday in Wahiawa. 

The blaze that hit Jetso Auto Center started about 3:30 p.m. in an industrial enclave in the 200 block of Palm Street, according to fire officials.

Honolulu fire spokesman David Jenkins said the body shop was heavily damaged, and 75 percent of its contents were damaged or destroyed.

It took eight fire companies with 34 personnel about 30 minutes to extinguish the main fire, said Honolulu Fire Department Battalion Chief John Kino. 

Police at the scene Thursday said they detained an unidentified man after a witness said that they saw him leave the building after the fire started. Police found the man only about a block away from the fire, near the fire engines, and when they questioned him he appeared to be mentally unsound, according to Honolulu Police Department Sgt. Scott Burns. 

The man was handcuffed and brought to Castle Medical Center for evaluation, Burns said. 

It’s difficult to say right now how exactly the fire started, or whether arson was the cause, Kino said. Officials still haven’t determined total damages at Jetso’s 5,000 square-foot property, he added. 

When shown a picture of the man taken into custody, Ray Dong, the owner of Jetso Auto Center, said that he knew the man and that he had previously helped him by giving him work at his auto body shop’s previous location in Honolulu.