Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said the fire began shortly after 10 a.m. when a worker at Panda Express left cooking oil unattended inside a wok. The flames then ignited grease inside a metal duct used to carry cooking smoke to a second story roof.
Video taken by Khon2 from Hawaiki Tower showed flames shooting into the air, with thick black smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air.
Mall security quickly evacuated customers and employees from the food court as well as surrounding stores. Eventually stores on the second and third floors of the mall directly above the food court, were also forced to evacuate.
“I understand the security did a great job in getting the people to move out,” said Seelig. “We did not have to worry about doing any kind of rescue or evacuation.”
Some customers at Thoms were forced to leave the ground level barber shop in the middle of their haircut.
“We actually let some customers out with half a haircut,” manger Dwight Nakamura said with a chuckle. They’re going to be back tomorrow — no extra charge.”
By 3:30 p.m. the shopping center had reopened the food court, which is home to thirty restaurants. However five of the restaurants remained closed after suffering more extensive damage. They include Hibachi-san, Yummy’s Korean BBQ, Soba-ya, Sbarro and Panda Express, where the fire began.
Another fourteen stores located near the food court or on the second and third level also remained closed as of 5:30 p.m. They are as follows:
Street Level Merchants
‐ Cinnabon
‐ Curry House CoCo Ichibanya
‐ Sam Goody
‐ See’s Candies
‐ Taco del Mar
Mall Level 2 Merchants
‐ Papyrus
‐ Reyn’s
‐ Juicy Couture
‐ Kate Spade
‐ Hermes
‐ Disney Store
‐ Bag ‘n Baggage
Mall Level 3 Merchants
‐ American Eagle
‐ Aéropostale
Scott Creel, group marketing manager for General Growth Properties, the company that manages Ala Moana Shopping Center for the Howard Hughes Corporation, could not say when the restaurants and stores impacted by the fire would reopen.
Seelig says all Oahu restaurants are responsible for hiring a certified fire protection company to clean cooking ducts every six months. However it’s unknown if each restaurant inside the shopping center is responsible for individual cleanings, or if the mall itself is responsible.
The fire investigation will also examine whether a fire suppression system located above the hood range at Panda Express was deployed, or was in working order. When activated such systems spray chemicals on grease fires to quickly put them out.
Ala Moana says shoppers needing to know the status of store and restaurant closures should call #808-955-9517 for the most up-to-date information.
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See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
