A car on a repair lift at Mercedes-Benz of Honolulu caught fire Sunday morning, and the fire and ensuing cleanup forced police to close Kapiolani Boulevard for about 2-1/2 hours.
The prolonged closure slowed business for Budnamujip and Yanagi Sushi, two restaurants in the area expecting a busy Sunday lunch crowd.
Honolulu Fire Battalion Chief John Bowers said the two-alarm fire was reported at about 9:52 a.m. and that about 35 firefighters from nine companies responded. They found a Mercedes convertible burning on the third floor of the garage at 818 Kapiolani Blvd.
The car was a personal vehicle sitting on a raised lift at the dealership, Bowers said.
Firefighters used ladders to reach the car because the flames had destroyed the lift’s controls; then they had to break open the hood to extinguish the fire in the engine compartment because the interior of the car was already destroyed, he said.
Firefighters put out the fire shortly afterward, but the trouble continued when water from the sprinkler system and fire hoses drained into exhaust vents in the floor leading to an air duct system. The weight of the water caused the duct system, which was hanging from the ceiling on the second floor, to fall on cars parked beneath.
Bowers said the first floor of the Mercedes garage is where vehicles are checked in, while the second floor is where customer vehicles are parked and the third floor is for repairs.
Damage on the third floor was largely contained to the car and the lift, but water had traveled down all three floors and some cars on the second floor may also have been damaged by the falling duct. Kapiolani Boulevard remained closed between Dreier Street and Ward Avenue while firefighters cleaned up with nine firetrucks along the street.
Police had closed Kapiolani Boulevard shortly after the fire started and reopened it at about
12:40 p.m.
A supervisor at Mercedes-Benz did not immediately have a comment. An employee said the fire started before the dealership opened, and someone from the neighboring Audi dealership alerted him to smoke coming from the third floor.
David Hanus, a manager at Yanagi Sushi, said business was slow. He said customers could still get to his restaurant from Kapiolani Boulevard, but when customers hear about the closure, “they just don’t come.”
