Search suspended for fallen hiker

Fire rescue personnel stopped searching last night for a hiker who fell about 200 feet off a ledge yesterday while hiking in Makaha above Kili Drive.

The man was hiking with a friend, who called 911 at 5:45 p.m. to report the fall.

The friend then hiked down the trail and met with rescue personnel.

Rescue personnel brought the man to the trail head, and he then agreed to go back up the trail to help them find his friend. But the man could not be found.

Air 1 also assisted in the search, but tail winds prevented the helicopter from getting close to the ledge, said fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. Also, thick cloud cover in the late afternoon made it difficult to see, he said.

Oil-soaked rags cause Aliamanu fire

A fire that destroyed one unit of an Aliamanu duplex Thursday was caused by spontaneous combustion of oil-soaked rags, fire investigators concluded yesterday.

The fire was classified as accidental. Fire officials said rags soaked with a vegetable-based oil used during a woodworking project had been discarded the night before in an open trash box in the garage. The rags began to slowly heat up and ignited the following afternoon, Capt. Terry Seelig said in a written news release.

The affected unit was engulfed in flames and heavy smoke when firefighters arrived at 922 Kahikoku Place, but the unit next door received only minor damage to the exterior vinyl siding.

Damage is estimated at $315,000 to the structure and $60,000 to its contents. The adjoining duplex received $5,000 in damage.

The Fire Department recommends storing oil-soaked rags in a tightly sealed metal container or laying out the rags to dry completely.

Suspect charged with drug offenses

  Big Island authorities charged a 24-year-old Kailua-Kona man yesterday with various drug offenses.

Police arrested Jose J. Garcia on Thursday after seizing a variety of drugs with a combined street value of $4,000, as well as $950 in cash for forfeiture.

Vice officers served a search warrant Thursday at a Kailua-Kona home where they recovered 23 grams of powdered cocaine, 7.8 grams of crystal methamphetamine, nine grams of hashish, seven grams of dried marijuana and 24 marijuana plants. Garcia was charged with two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and one count each of promoting a dangerous drug, promoting a harmful drug, promoting a detrimental drug and methamphetamine trafficking. His bail was set at $64,000.

Maui man escapes home blaze

A Wailuku man was asleep at the time a fire broke out yesterday morning at his house, and woke up only when firefighters arrived, the Maui Fire Department said.

Neighbors reported the fire at 7:05 a.m.

The resident awoke and escaped uninjured from the Nani Street home, a fire official said.

About 20 firefighters responded to the blaze and had it under control by 7:12 a.m. The fire was extinguished at 7:16 a.m.

Maui fire officials said the fire was determined to be accidental, but did not specify the cause. The blaze damaged the upstairs 20-by-30-foot ohana unit of the two-story house, causing an estimated $5,000 in mostly smoke damage to the structure and $2,500 to its contents.