Man detained after fire at Wahiawa body shop

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

The blaze that hit Jetso Auto Center started at about 3:30 p.m. in an industrial enclave in the 300 block of Palm Street, according to fire officials.

The body shop was heavily damaged, and 75 percent of its contents was damaged or destroyed, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins.

It took nine fire companies with 35 personnel about 30 minutes to extinguish the main blaze, fire officials said.

Police at the scene Thursday said they detained an unidentified man after a witness said he was seen leaving the building after the fire started. Police found the man 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 how the fire started or whether arson was the cause, HFD Battalion Chief John Kino said. Officials still haven’t determined total damage at Jetso’s 5,000-square-foot property, he added.

No injuries were reported.

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