PUHI — A handful of Puhi residents awoke yesterday to the smell of smoke and the sound of yelling, narrowly escaping injury as an early morning blaze damaged three Halelani Village townhouses. According to reports, at about 12:26 a.m., a
PUHI — A handful of Puhi residents awoke yesterday to the smell of smoke and the sound of yelling, narrowly escaping injury as an early morning blaze damaged three Halelani Village townhouses.
According to reports, at about 12:26 a.m., a person parking a car in the Halelani complex noticed a light glowing inside an upstairs unit. The witness immediately began banging on doors and windows in an attempt to wake the tenants.
Ted and Marilyn Luis, who live in a downstairs unit, said they awoke to a frenzy.
“Everyone was just panicking and yelling ‘fire fire!,’” Ted Luis said yesterday.
Marilyn Luis immediately dialed 911.
By the time Scotty Sagum, Patti Bradley and a guest, who were renting the upstairs unit where the fire originated, realized what was happening, the fire was already in full blaze.
“Everyone was yelling at them to go to the unit next door and to get out fast,” Marilyn Luis said.
Sagum, 56, had difficulty exiting due to limited mobility caused by a previous stroke. John Murphree, a resident of Halelani, witnessed the events.
“The way I heard it, (Sagum) couldn’t exit down the stairs and fled with flames literally to his back to the balcony next door,” Murphree said. “They were tying beach towels together until a neighbor grabbed a ladder and a policeman went up to rescue the man.”
The helpful neighbor, reportedly Darryl Alcos, had the ladder from a construction job and had not yet returned it, a coincidence that turned out to be potentially life-saving.
Sagum was later taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital to be treated for minor burns.
The fire was deemed under control by 1 a.m. and fully extinguished by 2:57 a.m., according to a county press release.
“The fire department was here until about 4:30 a.m. inspecting the scene,” said Patti Pruett, Resident Manager of Halelani, noting that she had been attempting to contact the owners of the units and insurance companies since early morning.
Three 750-square-foot townhouses were damaged by the blaze and have currently been deemed uninhabitable, according to the county release. Officials estimate total damages to be about $300,000.
Despite the smell of smoldering wood, Ted and Marilyn Luis returned to their home yesterday afternoon to collect items from their water-damaged residence.
They will be staying at a hotel provided by the Red Cross, which offered to assist residents whose homes were damaged.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
• Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
