Fatality, Fires Make for Short Holiday for Some Workers
A roadside fatality, house fire and brush fire kept county public safety personnel busy following the Thanksgiving holiday.
Troy K. Pattioay, 31, of Keaau died Friday morning after his 1987 Kenworth truck pulling a lowboy trailer was heading down a slope on the new Keamuku section of the Daniel K. Inouye Saddle Road when his truck apparently lost its brakes on the steep grade.
The truck crossed to the other side of the roadway and went out of control, causing its trailer to break free and the truck to overturn.
Pattioay was ejected and died at the scene.
His passenger, a 26-year-old Keaau man, was pinned in the vehicle and had to be extricated by fire department personnel. He was taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital and later transferred to The Queens Medical Center on Oahu. He was listed in stable condition.
Police said they do not believe alcohol or speed were factors in the crash, which closed Saddle Road for nearly six hours.
The death was the 25th traffic fatality on Big Island public roads this year compared to 36 at this time in 2012.
The crash was the second in two weeks involving a truck losing its brakes while descending a steep grade.
Amos K. Agliam, 41, of Hilo died Nov. 15 after his 2003 Kenworth tractor hauling a load of diesel fuel crashed near the 64-mile marker on the Kawaihae Road.
On Friday afternoon, a fire of unknown origin destroyed a home on Lalakea Street in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision north of Pahoa.
Firefighters arriving at the scene at 3:02 p.m. found the 1,500-square-foot home in flames.
Damage was estimated at $187,500.
No injuries were reported.
Later on Friday, both lanes of Highway 11 just north of Manuka State Park, near the border of the South Kona and Ka`u districts, was closed at about 4 p.m. by a brush fire.
About an hour later, one lane of alternating traffic was opened.
Both lanes were opened at around 8 p.m.
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