Photo by Anna Weaver
The damaged interior of the art classroom at St. Anthony, Kailua.
Fire damages original St. Anthony Church in Kailua
By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald
A fire during the early hours of March 1 at St. Anthony Parish in Kailua destroyed part of the original 73-year-old church building, now used as an art classroom for the school.
The Honolulu Fire Department determined the fire was caused by a defective electrical switch. School security cameras show smoke shortly after 1 a.m. About 15 minutes later, three men pulled up in a pick-up truck and waited until fire trucks arrived to direct them to the fire. Another call to 911 was made presumably by neighbors.
Parish project administrator Elaine Hogue said firefighters told St. Anthony’s pastor, Father Dennis Koshko, that if the fire had gone on four minutes longer it could have become “combustible.”
Hogue added that the combination of a new alarm system and the “angels in a pick-up truck” helped contain the damage, which is estimated at $50,000, to the one classroom. A childcare room and a music room on either side of the burnt classroom were not damaged.
As part of St. Anthony’s capital development campaign, Project Makawao, nearly a million dollars went into upgrading most of the school buildings this past summer, including new wiring, a new security system, and a new fire alarm system that automatically notifies the fire department when smoke is detected. Hogue says the alarm system has “already paid for itself.”
However, the old church building, which was dedicated in January 1933, wasn’t scheduled for new wiring until a second phase of renovations that will include the present church and parish hall.
Students were saddened to hear that their art projects were destroyed, said art and Hawaiiana teacher Sharon Chang, whose classroom was damaged by the fire. Fourth graders had turned in their Big Island trip reports the day before the fire. Hula supplies, band equipment, and May Day decorations stored in the art room were among the other items destroyed.
“The firefighter said, ‘Just be glad it’s not your home,’” Chang said. “And I said, ‘But it is my home. It’s my home away from home.’”
St. Anthony School is accepting donations to pay for repairs. Call 261-3331 for more information.