HFD extinguishes fire at strip mall in Pearl City

PEARL CITY, Hawaii (KHON2) — On Friday, May 26, the Honolulu Fire Department received a 911 call at 3:49 a.m.

The call was in regards to an activated fire alarm that was sounding on Kamehameha Highway in the Pearl City area.

At first, HFD personnel arrived with a single unit to find a single-story commercial strip mall structure producing black smoke from one of its retail units.

The intensity of the fire and smoke led HFD personnel to upgrade the incident to a building fire; so, the original single fire response unit requested to have backup units assist.

Hence, a total of nine units made up of 39 fire personnel responded to the fire.

As the fire blazed, fire personnel were able to secure their water supply; and they began an intense offensive fire attack on the main fire with handlines from an engine apparatus.

Fire fighters then moved to ensure that the fire did not extend to the neighboring businesses located in the strip mall area.

HFD said that fire personnel were able to get the fire under control by 4:30 a.m., and they had it fully extinguished by 4:40 a.m. No firefighters were injured in responding to this emergency call.

HFD Fire Investigators were brought to the scene in order to determine the origin and cause of the fire. They were also asked to provide damage estimates to the unit and building structure.

HFD Officials said that once the final investigation report is available, an update will be provided on the results.

HFD provided some helpful fire safety tips:

• Working smoke alarms save lives and reduce the risk of dying in a home fire in half. Install smoke alarms in every home and maintain them.

• Have and practice an escape plan and always call 911 when you are safely out of the home.