PHOTO BY BARRY MARKOWITZ / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Firefighters battled roof flames yesterday at the Punaluu Art Gallery after the owner and neighbors failed to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers.
Wax fuels blaze that
guts Punaluu galleryThe owner loses a large inventory of art
in a fire that snarls traffic for two hours
Fire destroyed the Punaluu Art Gallery yesterday, snarling traffic on Kamehameha Highway in both directions for about two hours.
"I lost my entire business, my whole shop -- thousands of dollars worth of art and all of my wax supplies," said Scott Bechtol, the gallery's owner.
The fire started about 4:37 p.m. and destroyed three-quarters of the one-story gallery at 53-352 Kamehameha Highway, according to fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.
Damage was estimated at $150,000 to the building and $100,000 to the contents, he said, adding that the fire's cause is under investigation.
The fire backed up traffic a mile in each direction of Kamehameha Highway after police closed the mauka lane and contra-flowed cars onto the makai lane, Tejada said.
Although there were no serious injuries, Bechtol suffered minor burns to his face but refused treatment, Tejada added.
Bechtol said he was helping customers when he saw smoke coming out of the back room.
PHOTO BY BARRY MARKOWITZ / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Punaluu Art Gallery owner Scott Bechtol iced a burn he suffered yesterday during a fire at his gallery.
He tried several times to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, but "it was just too hot," said Bechtol, who has been making candles in the gallery for 21 years.
Flames in the barrels of wax kept shooting up right into his face, he added.
Bechtol said he lost paintings, wood carvings, oils, acrylics, pottery and a few tons of wax.
Carlton Ching, owner of Ching's Punaluu Store, less than 100 yards away from the gallery, said he was behind the register when a neighbor ran in and yelled for a fire extinguisher.
"My first thought was, 'The shrimp shack's on fire!'" Ching said.
Ching and another neighbor ran down the street to the art gallery and tried to put out the fire, but "there was a board blocking the path of where we wanted to shoot, so the fire just kind of spread," he said.
The board was what Bechtol used to cover the wax barrels; however, pressure from the fire extinguishers knocked it off, Bechtol said.
"I just can't believe it. I've been working with wax for so many years, and I never had a problem," he said.
"I just need a place to work and make my stuff," he added as he watched firefighters hose down his gallery. "I'll have to get all new supplies and all new equipment all over again."
Freelance journalist Barry Markowitz contributed to this report.
