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Unattended iron causes fire in elderly apartment complex

By Star-Bulletin staff

POSTED: 01:31 p.m. HST, Jun 13, 2009

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A woman living in Lanihuli Elderly Apartments at 25 Aulike St., Kailua, escaped a fire in her apartment this morning after resting an ironing board against her stove and leaving the unit to get something from her car.
The ironing board turned on one of the burners which ignited some clothing on the board about 8:15 a.m., said  Fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. By the time the woman, in her 70s, tried to return to her second floor unit, the smoke had activated the emergency system and the elevators were stranded on the first floor, he said.
 The apartment complex is just down the road from the Kailua Fire Station and  the first fire crew was there within minutes and able to extinguish the fire with hand extinguishers, he said. “It was a very small fire,  probably just in the early stages.”
Damage was estimated at about $2,000, he said.
An effort was made to evacuate residents of the four-story independent living facility but the woman told firemen  “when the alarms go off, most don’t leave,” Kealoha said, adding the hope that “this will get them in tune” in case a more serious incident occurs.

A woman living in Lanihuli Elderly Apartments at 25 Aulike St., Kailua, escaped a fire in her apartment this morning after resting an ironing board against her stove and leaving the unit to get something from her car.
The ironing board turned on one of the burners which ignited some clothing on the board about 8:15 a.m., said  Fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. By the time the woman, in her 70s, tried to return to her second floor unit, the smoke had activated the emergency system and the elevators were stranded on the first floor, he said.
 The apartment complex is just down the road from the Kailua Fire Station and  the first fire crew was there within minutes and able to extinguish the fire with hand extinguishers, he said. “It was a very small fire,  probably just in the early stages.”
Damage was estimated at about $2,000, he said.
An effort was made to evacuate residents of the four-story independent living facility but the woman told firemen  “when the alarms go off, most don’t leave,” Kealoha said, adding the hope that “this will get them in tune” in case a more serious incident occurs.

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