An investigation was still underway Friday to catch a suspected arsonist who set fire to an iconic Waikiki surfboard rack, destroying more than 500 personally owned surfboards and damaging nearby buildings, including the Moana
Surfrider.
The fire broke out Thursday evening at the surfboard rack between the police substation in Waikiki and the Diamond Wing of the Moana Surfrider Hotel. Thirteen fire units, staffed with
54 personnel, responded to the fire at 8:22 p.m. Firefighters had the blaze under control by
8:44 p.m. and extinguished by 9:17 p.m.
Judy Westphal and her daughter Dawn Neumann, repeat visitors from Wisconsin, stood outside the crime scene Friday to get a closer glimpse of the damage left by Thursday’s fire. They said they witnessed the flames and smoke from their hotel room, which is about a block away from where the colorful surfboard rack once stood.
“We were looking at the moon. Then I was like, ‘Oh my God, look at those flames,’” Westphal said. “It was so windy. I was worried for the whole area. It went up so fast. Obviously, it had help.”
Investigators didn’t give the cause of the fire or provide a damage estimate Friday, but the Honolulu Police Department and CrimeStoppers released a video of a man seen in surveillance footage. Anyone with information about the fire or the identity of the suspect is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300. Web tips can be sent to honolulucrimestoppers.org or via the P3 Tips app.
Some have speculated that the fire could have been related to turf wars over Kuhio Beach’s limited commercial space. The Kailua house of Brian Benton, Dive Oahu’s owner, burned in 2018 in a suspected arson case. That fire, which Benton said he believes was deliberate, came shortly after Dive Oahu took over the Waikiki beachboys contract in a highly contested move by the city.
“The reason why I believe my house was arson is that someone poured gas over all my surfboards (in Waikiki), but they failed to light. Three weeks later my house was burned,” Benton said.
HPD spokeswoman
Michelle Yu said no arrest was made in the earlier Benton case and encouraged anyone with information to call HPD or CrimeStoppers. Yu declined to discuss details of the current investigation.
But Benton said he doesn’t believe he was a target in Thursday’s fire. He said the latest incident only caused smoke damage to about 12 of the company’s boards, which weren’t in the rack, but in a nearby stand on the beach. Benton said many others lost far more.
Moana Surfrider spokeswoman Dara Young didn’t provide a damage estimate Friday, but said there were no reports of injuries and that the property remains open and fully operational.
Acting Battalion Chief Capt. Albert McCollum said there also was exterior damage to a nearby snack bar and restrooms. The location was closed Friday.
The city estimates
525 personally owned surfboards were lost in all, according to Christopher Ching, concessions contract specialist with the Department of Enterprise Services, which oversees the rentals.
That’s how many racks were being rented out of
609 locker spaces available, Ching said, although he added that it’s possible board owners could have
removed them prior to the fire.
There were 446 individual Oahu and non-Oahu renters as of Thursday, Ching said. The rentals generated $154,665 last fiscal year, he said. The spaces were renting for between $15 and
$40 a month depending on a renter’s age, he said.
Enterprise Services and city attorneys are discussing the issue of compensation to locker renters, Ching said. “No level of compensation has been determined at this time,” he said.
The city is not making alternative arrangements in the Waikiki area for those who might still need space and has not yet made an official decision on whether the facility will be rebuilt.
Earlier Friday the Honolulu Emergency Services Department reported it had five boards stored at the site that were destroyed. The agency estimated the value of the boards at $6,000.
