Firefighters were again summoned to Kaiulani Elementary School on Thursday night to extinguish a fire that has been smoldering in a historic 117-year-old banyan tree since Wednesday.
Fire official said firefighters have been called to the North King Street campus nine times since the first alarm went out at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
To completely extinguish the fire, state Department of Education workers plan to cut down the parts of the tree affected by it.
The fire was aided by high winds, and firefighters were again called back to the school at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
After vandals started a fire in the tree in 2011, a fence was erected to protect it.
However, education officials said there is evidence that vandals again were at the tree.
A report on the incident has been filed with the Honolulu Police Department.
According to the school’s website, the Indian banyan tree was planted on the makai side of the campus in 1899, when the school opened, from a clipping from a tree at Princess Victoria Kaiulani’s royal estate in Waikiki.
Suspect released in Waipahu shooting
A 36-year-old man arrested on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder after another man was shot in Waipahu on Wednesday night was released pending further investigation.
An argument occurred at 6:50 p.m. at Pupukahi Street near Waipahu Intermediate School, police said.
A 33-year-old man was shot in the leg during the argument, and paramedics took him in critical condition to a hospital.
A third man involved in the argument was arrested on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening, police said.
Discarded cigarette blamed for blaze
Fire investigators Thursday concluded an investigation into a Wahiawa structure fire Wednesday that was found to be accidental and caused by a discarded cigarette.
Fire Capt. David Jenkins said the building was a total loss. The estimated damage to the 16-by-50-foot structure was $40,000 and $5,000 to its contents, mostly farming equipment and some office furniture.
A 40-year-old worker was outside when the blaze erupted at about 4:50 p.m. and called the Honolulu Fire Department after noticing smoke and attempting to put it out with a fire extinguisher, Jenkins said.
Firefighters brought the flames under control by 5:35 p.m. and extinguished the fire by 6:35 p.m.
Jenkins said the building, which could be moved by a trailer, was used as storage for farming equipment, as well as office space. It was also used as makeshift living quarters for a worker who was a caretaker for the property.
