Arson suspected
in boat blazes

2 other vessels also were targeted
but did not catch fire, cops say

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Police believe arsonists responsible for setting three sailboats at the Waikiki Yacht Club on fire yesterday also attempted to burn two other nearby vessels.

Two 40-foot boats were illegally boarded and had a flammable liquid poured in their cabins, but the liquid did not ignite, said Detective Robert Cravalho, Honolulu Police Criminal Investigation Division.

Property was also missing from the vessels, he said.

A spent flare was also found in one of the cabins, said Capt. Richard Soo, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.

The two vessels were moored near two other boats on Dock C that were damaged in fires believed to have been maliciously set.

A flare gun was recovered from the 35-foot Urban Renewal. Boat owner Lee Vasconcellos said he did not recognize the flare gun. He said his boat suffered mainly smoke damage from some cushions that burned.

The 35-foot Chance, moored next to the Urban Renewal, was the first to catch fire sometime before 5:52 a.m.

As firefighters were working to extinguish the fire aboard the Chance, smoke shot out of the Urban Renewal. Ten minutes later, a 25-foot sailboat at the repair dock on the other end of the yacht club grounds caught fire.

Damage to all three vessels is expected to be several thousand dollars, Soo said.

Police have opened three criminal property damage investigations and two attempted criminal property damage cases.

None of the boats that caught fire or were boarded illegally were inhabited. But some of the other vessels in the yacht club were occupied by people who spent the night after watching the Fourth of July fireworks show at Magic Island.

Anyone with information on the fires is asked to call Cravalho at 529-3873.