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Twenty residents of Kou Lane in Hilo evacuated their homes this morning due to an electrical fire at one of the 10 houses and two duplexes built in the 1930s, the Hawaii County Fire Department said in a news release.
The occupant of the home where the fire started lost power and found the fire burning under the home and couldn’t extinguish it.
The fire department said the blaze began at 10:31 a.m., and arrived on scene at 10:30 a.m. The fire was brought under control at 11:15 a.m. and extinguished at 2 p.m.
All the houses on Kou Lane are single-wall construction, built on steep terrain and are accessed by a walking path, the fire department said.
The duplex sustained superficial damage, the single-family home, on the southern end, had its wall and attic ignite from the heat and flames. Firefighters attacked the flames from the inside, which stopped the fire from causing further damage.
The homes were more than 200 feet from any apparatus, and firefighters had to go through “narrow jungle paths,” which made fighting the blaze difficult.
All the occupants are renters.
There were 47 firefighters battling the blaze.
Damage was estimated at $95,000 and the amount saved was $255,000.
The residents of three homes found shelter at a friend’s house.
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