Man injured fighting fire in Kauai house
A 29-year-old man Wailua man was injured Sunday morning in a house fire in Kapaa and taken by medevac to Straub Clinic & Hospital in Honolulu, Kauai County officials said.
The Ohana Street fire was reported at 6:46 a.m., and Kapaa firefighters arrived at 7:06 a.m. to find the upstairs portion of the home engulfed in flames.
One of the home’s five occupants suffered severe burns while attempting to extinguish the blaze, officials said.
He was initially transported to Wilcox Hospital and later flown to Oahu for treatment.
The blaze was fully extinguished by 8 a.m., and officials estimate it caused roughly $150,000 in damage to the two-story home and its contents.
Officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Scuba, spears not a match in West Hawaii
People looking to go scuba spearfishing in the water around West Hawaii will have to go elsewhere.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Saturday signed the new West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area Rules, which include a ban on scuba or "re-breather" spearfishing or possession of such gear with a spear.
The state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the rule changes June 28 after hearing hundreds of comments.
The area covered by the rules package is about 147 miles, from Upolu Point, North Kohala, to Ka Lae (South Point).
Other rules include a ban on possessing nine species of inshore sharks and other specific predators.
In addition, people will be permitted to take only 40 fish species for aquariums, with size and bag limits for three of them.
