Three people were injured today, including one critically, after a fire and explosion at Palolo Homes.

The fire started just before 12:30 p.m. at 2187 Ahe St., followed by an explosion that damaged multiple buildings, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Scot Seguirant.

About 45 firefighters responded and found light smoke coming from two windows and debris outside that showed signs of an explosion, Seguirant said. Firefighters extinguished the fire.

Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said paramedics and emergency medical technicians treated three people and took them to a hospital in varying conditions:

>> A 61-year-old man who had first- and second-degree burns to about 30 percent of his upper body, including his hands and face, was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

>> A 58-year-old woman with second-degree burns to about 25 percent of her upper body, including her face and arms, was taken to a hospital in serious condition.

>> A 70-year-old man with a history of a medical condition was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Neighbors reported hearing a ground-shaking boom and smoke and described walls knocked over and windows blown out.

“It looked like a war zone,” said Haimi Hoopii, 17, whose Palolo Homes unit had one of its walls knocked over and its windows smashed by the blast.

Hoopii said neither he nor his parents were home at the time. He said he was at a doctor’s appointment — otherwise he might have been hurt because he had planned to stay home and do chores.

When Hoopii did return home at 12:45 p.m., he had no idea what was going on in his neighborhood.

“I said, ‘please don’t let it be my house — and it was my house. I was scared,” he said, adding that he was especially concerned for the welfare of his service dog, which was kenneled inside the apartment.

Firefighters found the dog, a blue nose pitbull named Doobie, inside his crushed kennel, hidden under the debris of a fallen wall, with only a scratch under his eye.

“The kennel saved him,” he said.

Hoopii, who was walking Doobie along Ahe Street afterward, said he didn’t know where he was going to live because his apartment was destroyed.

Building 27 sustained severe damage, and units C and D of the building were compromised, Seguirant said. Windows were damaged in units A, B, C, and D of building 25 and also unit B of building 26.

Seguirant said the cause of the explosion was under investigation, but it may have been caused by an oxygen tank.

Dave Nakamura, executive director of Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, which purchased Palolo Homes in 2002, said the property manager and the resident services manager were injured in the blast. He said someone noticed a sign of a fire and the two employees went to investigate just before the blast.

He said an oxygen tank used for medical purposes possibly blew up.

A woman was overheard telling police she saw two people thrown by the force of the blast.

Jimmy Busche was visiting his cousin near the complex when he heard what sounded like a grenade blast. The two looked up and saw white smoke rise over the complex.

“The explosion was unreal — massive. That was a big boom,” he said.

Enright said four emergency units responded to the scene, representing a quarter of the department’s fleet. “It was a big deal,” she said.

Star-Advertiser reporters Leila Fujimori, Timothy Hurley, and Rob Shikina contributed to this report.