Honomu home collapses in fire

Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a Honomu home to go up in flames overnight. Fire officials say neighbors reported the blaze around 3 o’clock Saturday morning. When firefighters got there, they said most of the structure collapsed, and the house was fully engulfed in flames. They were not able to find anyone inside the home. The flames were deemed under control just after 4 a.m. Damage was estimated $194,000. The investigation is ongoing.
KHNL/KGMB-TV Hawaii News Now

Visitor saved by AED machine meets Honolulu firefighter who helped him

Richard Schmidt, 76, was just about to board his flight home to Sacramento after a two-week vacation here last month when his heart suddenly stopped and he collapsed at the jetway at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. That’s when several passengers behind him, including a nurse and off-duty Honolulu firefighter, went into action. Feeling no pulse, they started CPR and used an airport automated external defibrillator, or AED, to shock his heart. After a single shock, Schmidt regained consciousness and was rushed to Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center where he had triple bypass heart surgery on Jan. 24. Following his recovery, he met one of the good Samaritans face-to-face at a news conference today before boarding his flight back home. “I am so grateful for … the strangers and the bystanders who stepped in at a moment’s notice and helped me.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Follow-up: Woman escapes Alewa Heights house fire

Firefighters extinguished a fire at a two-story house in Alewa Heights this morning. When firefighters arrived at the house on the 2235G Aulii Street at 9:17 a.m., smoke and flames were seen coming from the second story of the home, according to Honolulu Fire Department battalion chief Alan Park. A total of seven units staffed with 26 personnel responded to the 9:11 a.m. call. A woman who was home at the time saw the flames and was able to escape without injury. Two men living at the house were not home at the time of the fire. Firefighters brought the blaze under control at 9:44 a.m. and extinguished it at 10:19 a.m. No injuries were reported. The Red Cross is assisting the displaced occupants. It all happened so quickly, according to neighbor Eunice Wakatsuki. She smelled smoke and saw the flames after returning home from some morning errands at about 9 a.m. She quickly alerted all the neighbors in the lane who watch out for one another, she said.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser