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Apartment building fire injuries three in Pepeekeo

Three adults were injured during a fire that fully engulfed an apartment building in Pepeekeo this morning.

The Hawaii Police Department responded to the fire at Kauhale Olu Apartments on Kumula Street at 10 a.m. They found the two-story, four-unit structure engulfed in flames, but were able to contain the fire by noon.

Three separate families were living in the building at the time, and three people — a 70-year-old woman, a 38-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man — sustained injuries, HPD reported.

The 38-year-old injured her back from jumping from a second-story window to escape the fire. She’s in stable condition and is being treated at a hospital. Her children, three girls ages 14, 9 and 6, were treated for smoke inhalation.

The 70-year-old woman was treated at the scene after suffering minor scrapes to her arm from broken glass as she was escaping the building. The 30-year-old man sustained burns and scrapes from the fire and was treated at and later released from a hospital.

The estimated damage to the building is $500,000. Police are still investigating the fire to determine its cause.

Each of the units in the apartment building have two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Anyone with information about the fire can call HPD’s nonemergency phone at 808-935-3311. Anonymous tips can be provided to CrimeStoppers at 808-961-8300 and tipsters may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

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