‘It’s disheartening’: Police search for suspect who broke into Honolulu business, set it on fire
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Police are on the hunt for an arsonist who broke into a Honolulu storage business and set it on fire.
A neighbor called 911 just before midnight Friday to report smoke pouring out of StorKeeper Self Storage, located near the Hawaii Convention Center.
“It’s always been a rough neighborhood,” said the company’s owner, Samuel Ulu. “But we’ve never had any trouble like this.”
When HNN spoke to him Friday morning, he still hadn’t been to sleep.
Just before midnight, Ulu got a call his family’s business was on fire. He says police told him it’s the work of an arsonist.
“They broke in through the front door,” he said.
Soot now covers the walls of the office ― flames charring just about everything inside.
Detectives are reviewing surveillance video to see if it captured images of the suspect.
Meanwhile, law enforcement sources say a fire department K-9 detected that an accelerant had been used to start the blaze.
“It’s disheartening,” said Ulu.
But he added that he feels fortunate the fire didn’t spread to the company’s more than 100 storage units.
He says he spent the morning assuring customers their valuables are safe.
“A lot of them we’ve already called up personally and told them what happened,” Ulu said. “They know we’re a family business and we treat them like family.”
He says he hopes to reopen early next week.
HFD estimates the fire caused $75,000 worth of damage.
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