Fire causes brief evacuation of Val Hala apartments
The cause of an early Friday morning fire at the Val Hala Apartments in the Puueo area of Hilo is under investigation, according to the Hawaii Fire Department.
Eleven units responded to the 1:39 a.m. alarm, with the first on scene at 1:44 a.m.
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The fire was reported under control at 1:49 a.m. and extinguished at 1:51 a.m.
Arriving firefighters found smoking coming from a second-story apartment with flames visible.
All residents were evacuated to the parking lot and the fire was quickly extinguished.
One resident of the apartment wasn’t at home at the time of the fire, but there were two others in the apartment. One was taken to the Hilo Benioff Medical Center with a burn to an arm.
HFD helped with water removal after extinguishing the fire.
The American Red Cross assisted residents of the fire-damaged apartment and the apartment below — which sustained water damage.
No damage estimates were given for the building and its contents.
