Puna Information Update for May 18th, 2019

Fire destroys a structure and vehicle in Fern Forest Saturday morning (May 18th)

The Hawaii Fire Department (HFD) along with the Hawaii Police Department (HPD) responded to structure fire in the Fern Forest subdivision in Puna Saturday morning (May 18th).

The initial call came in at 8:48 am Saturday morning and crews from the Volcano, Kea'au, and Pahoa Fire Stations along with Battalion 1 and volunteers from the Fern Forest subdivision responded to the scene located at the 11-3200 block of Mailenani Road. Upon the arrival of HFD crews, initially reported as a possible brush fire with black smoke visible in the Fern Forest area, neighbor later confirmed a structure was on fire.

Once on scene, they discovered a vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and 20'x30' structure had nearly burned down to the ground as a result of the fire and HFD crews immediately work to put out fire and prevent the fire from spreading further. HFD personnel later learned no occupants were in the structure at the time of the fire. Fire was declared extinguished at 11:23 am Saturday morning.

No injuries were reported and cause of the fire remains under investigation. The structure and vehicle was declared a total loss.