Deliberate fire
kills guard dog

Maui firefighters take three
hours to douse a warehouse
blaze set by a Molotov cocktail

WAILUKU >> Maui police are investigating a fire early yesterday morning at the JD Painting & Decorating warehouse in Wailuku, where a Molotov cocktail was used for the second time within a month.

The fire at the painting contractor company caused $300,000 in damage to the warehouse and contents and also killed a dog guarding the building. The company is able to continue operations, said JD Painting corporate secretary Lauren Dominguez.

The adjacent office was not damaged in the fire.

Dominguez said the female dog Yoquiero, a mixed breed, appeared to have died of smoke inhalation.

Dominguez said Yoquiero, who belonged to the business owner's son, would walk to nearby businesses during the day to see the employees.

"She was everybody's pet," Dominguez said.

On July 24 an incendiary device believed to be a Molotov cocktail was found on the roof of Maui Family Billiards at 199 Dairy Road in Kahului.

That fire caused little damage because someone noticed something burning on the roof and called the Fire Department.

Police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said detectives are probing whether there is any connection between the warehouse blaze and other recent fires.

Cuomo said police did receive a report of three juvenile males in the area of the warehouse and would like the public's help in locating eyewitnesses.

A developer who has a nearby business said police had taken pieces of the bottle from the Molotov cocktail from the front entrance of the building to see if there were any fingerprints.

Firefighters took a little more than three hours to extinguish the blaze at the warehouse at 70 Kanoa St. after the 12:18 a.m. alarm.

Dominguez said those who caused the warehouse fire killed a "helpless" dog.

"They don't realize a helpless little creature got trapped in there," she said.