NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

California man drowns on Kauai

POIPU, Kauai » A 50-year-old man from Mission Viejo, Calif., died yesterday in an apparent drowning.

The man, whom police did not identify, was believed to have been snorkeling in front of Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club at 2:03 p.m. when he ran into trouble, county officials said.

Lifeguards from the Poipu tower, located 800 yards away, spotted the man and responded. They put the man on a board, paddled him to shore and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Big Island home destroyed in fire

HILO » Fire destroyed a one-story home Tuesday afternoon in Hawaiian Paradise Park south of Hilo, the county Fire Department said.

The cause of the fire, at the home of Phillip and Catherine Ozer, was not immediately determined. Damage was put at $340,000.

Phillip Ozer was at home sleeping at the time of the 5:22 p.m. blaze and awoke too late to halt its spread, the department said.

HONOLULU

Roof repair work is blamed in blaze

A fire on the fifth floor of Heald College Plaza at 1500 Kapiolani Blvd. on Friday was caused by workers using a torch to prepare asphaltlike sheeting for roof repairs, according to investigators with the Honolulu Fire Department.

The workers accidentally charred a wooden roof cap that kept smoldering after it was covered by the asphalt sheeting, investigators said. Smoke from the smoldering roof cap entered the air conditioning and ventilation system, forcing evacuation of the building, according to an HFD news release. The fire did not cause any interior flame or heat damage, but a wet standpipe connection that failed during the firefighting effort caused water damage, the release said.

Damage was estimated at $40,000.

CENTRAL OAHU

Officials declare arson in Mililani

Fire investigators say a fire that heavily damaged a scorekeeper shed at Mililani High School early yesterday was intentionally set.

The fire was reported at 12:05 a.m. in a two-level wooden shed near the softball field backstop. The fire caused an estimated $30,000 in damage to the shed and $15,000 in damage to its contents, including pitching machines and other athletic equipment, a fire official said.