3 fires in 2 days cause more than $1M in damage on Oahu

Three fires over the past two days have caused more than one million dollars in damage on Oahu, while the causes of all three could not be immediately determined, a Honolulu Fire Department spokesman said.

A Kailua fire that displaced two people and their dog early Saturday morning caused $905,000 in damage and its cause has been ruled undetermined, said HFD Capt. Scot Seguirant.

The damage included $770,000 to the structure and $90,000 to a neighboring structure. Damage to the contents of the two homes was $45,000.

Nine HFD units responded to the fire at 1604 Ulupii Place with the first unit arriving at 2:27 a.m. to find flames shooting from the left side of the single-story home, Seguirant said. Firefighters brought the blaze under control at 2:47 a.m. and extinguished it at 4:12 a.m.

Seguirant said the home, occupied by a man and his mother, did not have smoke detectors and neighbors alerted the residents to the fire.

Just after 10 p.m. Friday, a fire caused $38,000 in damage to a detached garage in Ewa Beach.

Seguirant said a man inside the home at 91-2049 Kaioli St. reportedly got a phone call from a friend saying smoke was coming from the garage. He went to check it out and found heavy smoke throughout the area. Firefighters extinguished the fire within a few minutes, but could not determine the cause.

And at about 4 p.m. Friday, a fire at Lanakili Elementary School in Liliha forced the evacuation of students and staff from the school’s cafeteria.

Firefighters responded to the campus at 717 N. Kuakini St. at about 4 p.m. and found black smoke coming from the upper windows of the building. The fire was extinguished at 4:12 p.m.

Seguirant said the fire caused $232,000 in damage. The cause remains under investigation.