Kauai warehouse suffers $250,000 fire damage

A fire Sunday night caused $250,000 in damage to a Port Allen warehouse and its contents, according to Kauai County officials.

Firefighters were called at 7:30 p.m. to the warehouse fire in a section leased by Mana Divers.

Twelve firefighters from three stations had the fire under control by 8 p.m. and extinguished by 9:58 p.m.

An adjoining bay sustained minor damage, officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Body of man who fell in mountains recovered

Firefighters recovered yesterday the body of a 28-year-old man who fell about 400 feet to his death from the Waianae Mountains on Sunday afternoon.

Fire officials said the man and a fellow hiker had returned to the ridge to retrieve a tent that they had lost. They were rappelling down the ridge when one of them fell toward the Makaha side.

A fire helicopter picked up the second man and brought him off the trail yesterday. However, high winds, poor visibility and darkness hampered efforts to recover the body, which was spotted at 5 p.m. several hundred feet below where he was last seen.

“;It was located in a steep heavily forested gully that was not easily accessible by helicopter or by foot. From the position of the body and the distance of the fall, it was determined that the hiker could not have survived the fall,”; according to a statement from fire Capt. Robert Main.

Recovery efforts resumed at daybreak, and after working for three hours, Honolulu Fire Department personnel took the body out of the valley at about 9:30 a.m.

Twelve firefighters were involved in the recovery mission.

Lifeguards rescue 14 on north, west shores

Oahu lifeguards rescued 14 people from north and west shores yesterday as high surf pounded the island.

Two people were taken by ambulance to the hospital, the Emergency Services Department reported.

Lifeguards also made 1,700 verbal warnings and 40 assists using Jet-Skis.

Large waves, with 25- to 35-foot faces and some sets reaching 45 to 50 feet, were reported. The city closed North Shore beaches to swimmers yesterday because of the high surf.

Hawaii County also closed several beaches along the Kona Coast because of rising surf.

A high-surf warning for the north and west shores of all islands is in effect until 6 p.m. today. Surf along Oahu's North Shore is forecast at 20 to 30 feet, while surf along the West Shore is forecast to be 8 to 12 feet.