A fire in the Mapunapuna industrial area caused an estimated $5.5 million in damage to businesses Tuesday night, fire officials said.

But on Wednesday, an official with ABC Supply Co., which sustained most of the damage, said it could have been much worse.

The fire burned two ABC Supply Co. warehouses filled with building materials, damaging or destroying most of the contents — including eight forklifts and three boom trucks.

The three-alarm blaze left the company’s property, 749 Mapunapuna St., with damages estimated at $5.45 million, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins. It caused $50,000 in damage to neighboring structures, including Safety Systems and Signs Hawaii Inc.’s shoring division, he said.

ABC Supply General Manager Jack Miller said firefighters stopped the fire from damaging a third ABC Supply structure that contained building supplies and a large propane tank. “The firefighters did a great job of minimizing the fire,” Miller said.

The flames could be seen for miles and the fumes drifted several hundred yards, observers said.

Miller said ABC Supply’s Mapunapuna telephone and business services have been rerouted to its warehouse facilities at Campbell Industrial Park.

Company employee Jesse Ervin said he was helping to close the business for the day when he spotted the fire and called for help.

Regarding the third threatened ABC structure, Ervin said, “The fire truck came just in time to save the building.”

Some 70 firefighters helped bring the fire under control about three hours after receiving the call at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. It took until 3:07 p.m. Wednesday to fully extinguish the blaze.

Jenkins said two of the three warehouses on the property were in danger of collapsing because of the fire damage. That hampered efforts to extinguish smoldering debris in the buildings.

The Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials unit investigated the fire and determined no hazardous materials had been released. No injuries were reported.

Jenkins said the cause of the fire is under investigation.