The city Medical Examiner’s Office on Thursday identified the two visitors who drowned in separate accidents this week.
Richard Park, 47, was swimming at Three Tables Beach in Haleiwa on Wednesday when he was found unresponsive at 4:40 p.m. He died at the scene, according to city Emergency Medical Services.
Park, of Culver City, Calif., apparently drowned Wednesday near where Stuart McPherson, 60, of Castle Pines, Colo., drowned while snorkeling at Three Tables Beach a day earlier.
The Medical Examiner’s office also said Hiroo Ando, 59, of Tokyo, who was found unconscious in the Hilton Hawaiian Village lagoon Tuesday, drowned. Ando was taken in critical condition to Straub Medical Center, where he died.
OCCC inmate’s death classified as suicide
A 66-year-old Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate died Friday of blunt impact to his head and body, according to the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office.
The inmate was identified by the Medical Examiner’s office as James Wrath. His death was classified as a suicide.
Paramedics took Wrath in serious condition from the jail on Dillingham Boulevard to the hospital at 7 a.m. Friday.
He died at the hospital several hours later.
Wrath was serving time for second-degree unauthorized entry into a dwelling and was eligible for release this month.
Police said there is no evidence of foul play.
Fire at restaurant prompts evacuation
Four employees of the Burger King at Aikahi Shopping Center in Kailua were evacuated Thursday morning after a fire was reported in the restaurant’s ventilation system.
The fire was reported at 7:25 a.m.
Firefighters from the Aikahi fire station next to the shopping center saw heavy white smoke coming from the roof when they arrived, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins. The fire was brought under control within 20 minutes.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, he said. Fire investigators found that the fire originated within the cooking ventilation system, but the exact cause of ignition has not been determined, he said. Damage from the fire was estimated to be $25,000.
Firefighters extinguish brush fire flare-up
Maui firefighters responded Wednesday to a flare-up of a July 2 brush fire in Maalaea, where there were burning tree stumps.
The Maui Fire Department said smoldering tree stumps and underground tree root systems caused the flare-up.
It was reported at 12:11 p.m. Wednesday at the 2,100-foot elevation in the West Maui Mountains.
Smoke was reported high in the West Maui hillside above the Honoapiilani Highway and North Kihei Road intersection.
The smoke was coming from a burned area next to a deep gulch on the northern edge of the old brush fire.
Wailuku firefighters got to the scene at 12:24 p.m., found smoke and extinguished the flare-up in a 100-by-100-foot area at 3:15 p.m.
The Fire Department helicopter made water drops.