KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii Fire Department continues to investigate a blaze that caused the partial collapse a two-story house Tuesday afternoon in Keauhou. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii Fire Department continues to investigate a blaze that caused the partial collapse
KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii Fire Department continues to investigate a blaze that caused the partial collapse a two-story house Tuesday afternoon in Keauhou.
KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii Fire Department continues to investigate a blaze that caused the partial collapse a two-story house Tuesday afternoon in Keauhou.
West Hawaii Battalion Chief Darwin Okinaka said it’s too early to tell what caused the fire that displaced several tenants and there’s no indication of foul play at this time.
The fire quickly burned through the second story of the wood-frame home on Holua Road, sending plumes of smoke that could be seen from the overlook along Kamehameha III Road.
Two of the home’s occupants fled the residence unharmed, according to a Fire Department report. Okinaka said no one required medical treatment.
Witnesses first noticed the fire at about noon Tuesday, saying that within seconds, the blaze shot through the whole house. Thirty minutes later, they said, the second floor collapsed.
The first emergency units responded at 12:05 p.m., according to the HFD report, and the fire was extinguished a little more than an hour later.
Okinaka said the fire’s rapid acceleration could be the result of the house’s open floor plan. He said about seven or eight people seemed to be renting space at the house and the property’s owner is thought to be living on the mainland, although there was a property manager there.
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.
