Maui firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed an unoccupied third story unit at the Hale Kamaole condominium Thursday night.
The fire led to the evacuation of 40 units surrounding the fire, about 80 people, according to fire and county officials. No one was injured.
Firefighters responded to a call of a structure on fire at Hale Kamaole at about 9 p.m., according to Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga. When fire units arrived on the scene, they found the third story unit fully engulfed in flames.
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The fire was 50 percent contained by 10 p.m. and totally doused by 2:40 a.m. today, he said.
The third story unit was totally destroyed with surrounding units sustaining damage, Mainaga said. A unit to the makai side sustained damage to its roof and storage closet on the balcony. Other units had smoke and water damage.
South Kihei Road at the site of the fire, near Kamaole Beach Park III, was shut down during the fire.
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Nancy Hevenor of Colorado took this photo of the Hale Kamaole at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday. She was staying at the Kamaole Sands.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though a preliminary assessment indicated that the fire did not seem to be intentionally set, he said.
Residents were allowed to return to their units at about 2:45 a.m. The burned unit and eight other surrounding units were not allowed to be reoccupied, Mainaga said. Displaced residents were housed in other units in the complex.
Fire units from Wailea, Kihei, Wailuku and Kahului responded to the blaze with companies from Lahaina and Makawao assisting.
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*Video provided by Jasen Hartford and Sheri Siddall.
