Fire leaves family homeless

A home in Waimanalo was destroyed by fire yesterday, leaving a family homeless.

Crews responded to the fire call at 10:45 a.m., said Honolulu Fire Capt. Robert Main. The fire was confined to one unit of a duplex on Mahailua Street, between Kumuhau and Kakaina streets.

Fire destroyed the two rear bedrooms of the unit, leaving it “;uninhabitable,”; Main said. The adjacent unit was undamaged.

“;We were able to stop it from progressing,”; he said.

The family—two adults and a child—was not home at the time of the fire, Main said. They were being assisted by the Red Cross, he said.

Damage was estimated at $250,000 to the structure and $50,000 to the contents.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Diver nearly drowns off Big Island

A 59-year-old man was in critical condition yesterday at Hilo Medical Center after nearly drowning at Laupahoehoe Point Beach Park, the Big Island fire department said.

The victim was diving with friends yesterday morning when he began to struggle in rough surf at about 10 a.m., the fire department said. The man's friends pulled him onto the rocks, and bystanders performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A fire department helicopter lifted him off the rocks to be loaded into an ambulance.

Police seek 2 suspects in shooting

Three men were in a car leaving a convenience store in Waianae at about 12:15 a.m. yesterday when a man fired five rounds from a small-caliber firearm into the front passenger door, police reported. No one was injured.

The victims said they didn't know the man who fired the gun. He was on foot, and a woman driving a maroon-colored sports utility vehicle picked him up, police said.

Police yesterday were searching for the suspects, wanted on attempted murder charges.

Man flees after crashing into home

A pickup truck ran off the road into a townhouse on Lelepua Street in the Waikele area at about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, said Capt. Robert Main, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.

The family in the house got out without injuries, Main said. The occupant of the truck ran away, he said.