KEAUHOU — Fire Department crews from Keauhou, Kailua-Kona and Captain Cook responded Tuesday afternoon to a fire that led to the partial collapse of a two-story home on Holua Road.
KEAUHOU — Fire Department crews from Keauhou, Kailua-Kona and Captain Cook responded Tuesday afternoon to a fire that led to the partial collapse of a two-story home on Holua Road.
A witness said the fire tore through the house, though no injuries were reported.
Max Stasyun, 24, said he just moved into the home about a week ago and his bags weren’t even fully unpacked.
“First, I thought it was a kitchen fire,” he said. “But as soon as I opened the door, I knew it wasn’t a kitchen fire.”
Including him, he said, there were three people living in the house.
Stasyun said he was getting ready to do some yard work in the back of the home at about noon Tuesday and decided to go upstairs to grab a beer. One of his roommates, he said, had just left for work.
When he got to the landing, he said, he saw about 3 to 5 inches of smoke coming from a crack in the screen door that led to the back of the living room.
Initially, he said, he didn’t think much of it, saying he thought someone might have burned something cooking.
“As soon as I opened that door, I look up and I see 2 to 3 feet of smoke,” he said.
Stasyun said he ran through the open sliding door, checking for anybody else in the house before grabbing a bag, its contents spilling out. He said he didn’t see anybody else inside.
After getting that bag out of the house, he said, he went back in to grab a second bag, which contained his electronics and some more clothes. He got that bag out, he said, before making one last trip to retrieve everything that spilled out of his first bag.
During the rush, he said, the bag with his electronics went missing from where he left it outside.
He said he never saw any flames inside the house.
“I didn’t even know,” he said. “I didn’t know if someone was cooking or burning some garbage or something … I dunno.”
Paul Wofford said he was doing yard work at a neighboring house about noon and noticed smoke coming out of the top of the building.
Out of the far corner, he said, a flame “just came out of it.”
“Within 20 seconds, it shot through the whole house,” he said. “It engulfed the whole thing.”
Wofford said he called 911 just after noon and units showed up in about seven minutes. Within 30 minutes of making the call, the second floor collapsed. He added that he didn’t hear anything or see anyone rush outside.
“Nothing suspicious,” he said.
David Massie, who lives across the street from the home, said he saw the smoke and came outside to see the second floor “engulfed in flames.”
“It went up fast,” he said.
Efforts to contact the people listed as the property owners on the county’s tax assessor website were unsuccessful.
Debbie Weeks, director for the Hawaii County Red Cross, said they had a team of volunteers who were dispatched to assess the situation.
Once they determine the structure’s livability and confirm the residency of those who lived there, she said, they’ll be able to begin providing some assistance and helping those displaced by the fire.
So far, she said, they know of one person who reported living at the residence and is awaiting assistance. She couldn’t provide any details about that person.
She said volunteers also will follow up as more potential residents, who might not have been at the scene earlier in the day, return to the residence.
“As people show up,” she said, “we are endeavoring to have a couple more teams to help with the recovery process.”