A lunchtime brush fire kindled on the beach at the north end of Old Kona Airport Park on Tuesday. Moments later, a vehicle and garage caught fire in Keauhou.
A lunchtime brush fire kindled on the beach at the north end of Old Kona Airport Park on Tuesday. Moments later, a vehicle and garage caught fire in Keauhou.
Hawaii Island firefighters used hand tools and water packs to contain the fire at the park, which burned about a quarter acre of dry grass and brush.
As firefighters sprayed water on what appeared to be a ring of campfire stones, two day campers gathered belongings to get out of the area. One camper who declined to give his name said he had no idea how the fire started.
“I was sleeping. Some guy that was out here said, ‘Wake up, there’s a fire behind you,’” the camper said.
A snorkeler helped him move his tent away from the blaze, the camper said. The snorkeler then went down the beach and warned Kailua-Kona resident Erin Stokey, who was relaxing under a nearby tree.
“I think that snorkeler may have saved that day camper’s life,” Stokey said.
“I thought I smelled it. I didn’t see it,” she said. “I wasn’t too concerned until the firefighters came and said I should get out.”
As firefighters told him to move away because the helicopter was going to drop water, the camper continued to insist he’d been asleep.
“I had just set up my tent. I have no idea who was over there,” he said of a pile of belongings from another camper, which were piled near the scorched area.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. Capt. Mike Andrade said campers frequent the area and the Fire Department has responded there for medical calls in the past.
Down the shoreline in Keauhou, a column of gray smoke rose and fire department radios crackled with news of an apparent car fire that spread to a home. Leaving the helicopter to soak the Old Kona Airport Park cinders as a precaution against nighttime flareups, some of the firefighters left the scene to respond to Na Hale O Keauhou condominiums, makai of Keauhou Shopping Center.
Sitting on a bench up the street from her smoldering home, Suzanne Bond listened as property manager Christy Hinds talked her through the insurance process.
“I just don’t understand what could have caused this,” Bond said.
She returned from running errands about 1 p.m., parked her 1994 Mercedes SL320 in the garage and went inside. A short time later, she returned to the garage.
“When I opened the door, there were all these flames coming up,” she said. “I could hear glass breaking.”
Armed with a fire extinguisher, a gardener told Bond to get away and went into the garage to battle the blaze to no avail, she said. Bond had a friend she could stay with, but wondered about her belongings.
“I will hang out with you until I know you have a place to stay,” Hinds assured her.
The fire destroyed the garage and a guest room directly above it, causing an estimated $200,000 in fire damage alone. Firefighters also reported extensive smoke and water damage to the condominium. An adjoining unit also suffered smoke damage, said West Hawaii Battalion Chief Ty Medeiros.
Initial indications are the fire started in the car, Medeiros said, but firefighters are still investigating. The Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross is responding to the Keauhou blaze, according to the agency.
The Red Cross also was busy at the site of a fire Monday night on Government Beach Road in Kapoho.
Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.