A 63-year-old man was critically injured in a townhouse fire in Mililani early on Monday morning.
It happened at about 2:30 a.m. at the Kumelewai Garden townhouses on Ainamakua Drive.
The fire started in the staircase between four units, witnesses said.
Neighbor Robin Sagadraca said he got there shortly after it started.
"It was pretty contained when I got here. It was in the little breezeway, but in no time, in like 30 seconds, it just started licking up the stairways and it was on the roof. It happened very quickly," Sagadraca said.
The rest of the residents got out in time thanks to the yelling and screaming of their neighbors. The noise woke up Kendle and Joey Blacksher who were sleeping in the other upstairs unit.
"I just looked out the window and I heard the yelling and I thought, well, there was a fight. Then we saw something red on the side of the building. Then we went to the front door and opened it and there were flames everywhere," Kendle Blacksher said.
Firefighters pulled the 63-year-old man out of a second-story unit's window..
A 53-year-old man was taken to the hospital in stable condition. Four other residents escaped unharmed.
Neighbors said they heard popping in a utility closet underneath the stairs just before the fire started.
Four units were heavily damaged.
