Firefighters extinguish 3-alarm fire at Kapiolani apartment building

Honolulu firefighters extinguished a three-alarm fire that damaged at least six units of a Kapiolani Boulevard apartment building Thursday afternoon.

Neighbors say the four-story, walk-up Iolani Terrace building at 2745 Kapiolani Blvd., across from the H-1 freeway Kapiolani off-ramp, was a former Chaminade University dormitory that has been mostly vacant recently.

A Honolulu Fire Department spokesman said firefighters responded to a 1:05 p.m. call, arrived at 1:08 p.m and had the fire under control at 1:25 p.m. No injuries were reported.

The building consists of three floors of apartments above a first-floor carport. Photos posted on social media showed flames lapping up from the carport and onto the building. Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away before the fire was brought under control.

Sixteen HFD units responded to the fire. HFD did not immediately know the suspected cause or damage estimate.

The HFD spokesman said the bulk of the flames came from the ground-floor parking area which also appeared to be used as a storage area for furniture and other items. The fire spread to the units above, damaging at least six.

A neighbor estimated that only 10 percent of the building was occupied and the HFD spokesman said anyone in the building was evacuated.

The 18-unit apartment building was built in 1970 and is just down the street from the Marco Polo condominium complex which was the scene of a fatal high-rise fire in July.

In December 2015, the Iolani Terrace was sold by Chaminade University to Ying Hua International Investments LLC for $5.3 million.