CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COMThe balcony and stairwell collapsed at 2021 Stanley St. yesterday morning. No one was hurt, but families and their pets were evacuated from the top and bottom units. CLICK FOR LARGE |
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Collapse of stairway forces out tenants
The collapse of an exterior staircase and landing yesterday will eventually displace all of the residents of a two-story, seven-unit apartment complex in Kalihi.
No one was injured when the steel-reinforced, concrete staircase and landing at 2021 Stanley St. collapsed at about 8:45 a.m. Fire officials estimated that at least 15 people live in the building.
The staircase is the only entrance and exit for one of the four upstairs units. Firefighters used a ladder to remove the people inside the unit through a window. They got their two dogs out, too.
Charlene Padayao lives upstairs with her son, daughter and grandson. She said she was in the bathroom when she heard the sound of the collapse but did not know what it was until she opened her front door. She said the staircase and landing has had cracks and was missing chunks of concrete since she moved in about three years ago.
"It was breaking, but I didn't know it would fall like that," Padayao said.
The collapse also created a hole in the wall of the unit below. A couple, their daughter and two sons live in the unit.
Representatives from the American Red Cross were at the building to see if anyone displaced by the collapse needed assistance. The Hawaiian Humane Society took the larger of the two dogs because the family was unable to find accommodations for it.
Building owner Kay Adaniya said a city building inspector told her all units are not fit for people to live in and will have to be repaired. The structure was built in 1941, according to city property records.
Adaniya said she got an estimate last year to replace the stairs and landing with ones made of steel for $10,000. But she said she could not get her upstairs tenants to move out to allow the replacement to be done.