Six evacuated
as Waianae
building burns

The blaze this morning
engulfed the building before six
firefighting units arrived

Star-Bulletin

An apartment complex fire in Waianae this morning left four females, one male and one baby homeless and in need of Red Cross assistance, fire officials said.

The tenants were evacuated from the two-alarm fire, which began at 10:01 a.m. and drew six firefighting units to the scene. The blaze at 85-156 Ala Walua St. had fully engulfed the building before crews arrived.

It was under control at 10:24 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Shaun Ternora, 19, who lives in apartment B in the complex, said the fire appeared to coming from a townhome two doors down. "I was in the other room, I heard the sirens," Ternora said. "Had a lot of smoke."

Ternora, who did not have to evacuate, said the townhomes are connected to each other.

His townhome is connected to apartment A and all the homes apparently have the same layout - two story homes with the bedrooms upstairs and the living, he said.

Jason Francisco, 35, who lives across the street from the fire scene, said it appeared the fire began in one townhome and then spread to the unit next door. He also said the second townhome was renovated after fire hit last year.