Fire engulfs Honolulu high-rise — at least 3 die as hundreds flee
HONOLULU — At least three people died and 12 were injured in a fire that broke out on the 26th floor of a Honolulu high-rise Friday, and hundreds fled as smoke billowed from the upper floors of the giant apartment complex.
The blaze at the Marco Polo apartments started on the 26th floor and spread to at least the 28th floor and several units, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins. He said the number of fatalities could increase.
The three dead were found on the 26th floor, said Fire Chief Manuel Neves.
Firefighters say there were reports of people trapped in their units, and some residents were unaccounted for.
The building was not equipped with sprinklers, Honolulu Mayor Nick Caldwell said at a news conference.
The high-rise near the tourist mecca Waikiki has 568 apartments and four commercial spaces. Paramedics treated several injured people, and at least four people were sent to the hospital. At least 12 people needed medical help, Jenkins said.
“We could see smoke billowing out already, and the ground was scorched outside the stairwell,” said Patrick Williamson, who lives on the 32nd floor with his two sons, ages 10 and 12. They evacuated when they smelled smoke.
“I feel worried, concerned and a little angry,” he said. “For the fire to get this out of control is a little suspicious. Either the Fire Department was late in response, or there was something going on in that unit. Either way, one wonders what happened, and I feel a little bit less secure living in the building.”
Troy Yasuda, who lives in a building across the street, was giving water to people who evacuated. “They were choking from the smoke,” he said, adding that people told him they evacuated through dark stairwells.
Police were yelling through megaphones for people still inside to come down, Yasuda said. He watched as people were carried out.
“It’s been an orderly evacuation,” said security guard Leonard Rosa, who was answering phones from the front lobby of the 31-story building near Waikiki. Police and firefighters were going door to door, he said.
Firefighters were checking on reports that there were people trapped in their units, Jenkins said.
Fourth-floor resident Aaron Dengler and his wife were helping their elderly neighbor get to an aid station the American Red Cross set up at a nearby park. “It doesn’t help to just stand and watch,” he said.
About two hours after the fire started, it looked like flames were getting bigger and like the blaze was reaching the 28th floor, Dengler said. “People are getting kind of nervous now,” he said. “It’s worrisome.”