Fire Caused by Candle Destroys Puna Home
A house in the Black Sands Beach subdivision off the Pahoa-Kalapana Road (Highway 130) was destroyed early today by a fire caused by an unattended candle.
According to a statement from the Pahoa fire station, firefighters responding to a 3:22 a.m. call found the home fully engulfed in flames with the roof collapsed.
One of the home’s four occupants, a 31-year-old woman, sustained second-degree burns to her hands while trying to leave the building and was transported to Hilo Medical Center in stable condition. The other three, the woman who owns the home, a man and a toddler, exited safely.
The building at 12-4321 Kona Street, described as a 140-square-foot metal shed with a wooden subfloor, was completely destroyed by the fire. It was valued at $20,000.
It took nine firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the blaze.