Honolulu - Three people died in a fire
that consumed three floors of a 36-storey condominium tower in
Honolulu on Friday, city officials said.
At least five others were injured in the blaze at the Marco
Polo high-rise that send thick black smoke pouring out over the
city, a month to the day after a deadly tower fire in London.
Firefighters sprayed water onto the flames from nearby
balconies and brought them under control at about 6:30 p.m.
local time (0430 GMT Saturday), fours hours after the fire
began, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters.
"We were all trying to help as much as we could ... but
there was a fire and you could see it spreading," said
72-year-old resident, Karen Hastings, who was in the building
when the fire broke out.
The blaze began on the 26th floor and quickly spread to the
two floors above, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper
reported. There were no immediate reports on what caused it.
Images posted online showed orange flames raging on several
floors and debris falling from windows.
Fire Chief Manuel Neves told reporters that the building did
not have a sprinkler system. Officers were conducting a
room-by-room search, a task that could take several hours, he
said.
"We don't have any information for us to believe that there
are problems with the structure," Neves added.
The building was constructed in 1971, before the city began
requiring sprinkler systems, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
newspaper said.
City officials told the newspaper that if the building had
had a sprinkler system, the fire would have been contained to
the original unit.
Emergency responders said they took at least five people to
hospital with injuries and a number of others were treated at
the scene.
Evacuees were being accommodated at a nearby park, with
volunteers tending them, the Hawaii Red Cross said on social
network Twitter.
The fire forced the closure of a major road in front of the
condominium complex, the Honolulu police department said on
Twitter.
In London, at least 80 people were killed when a fire gutted
the 24-story Grenfell Tower apartments on June 14. That building
also did not have a sprinkler system.