Looking like the underbelly of a backyard barbeque, hundreds of feet of charred, crumbling fiber optic cable was destroyed by an early morning fire on Tuesday.

"It was high, over the ledge and then back rolling up," said Honolulu Fire Capt. Terry Seelig.

Fire investigators said it started just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday in a trash-filled pocket under Nimitz Highway off Kilihau Street.

A homeless man was seriously burned.  Investigators don't know if it was an accident or arson.

Homeless camps, and all the trash that goes along with it, has been a huge problem with the state for years.

Every six months, they say they literally clean out tons of stuff, but each time it builds up again.

But that problem led to a much bigger problem.  Within minutes it triggered a massive ripple effect.

"Our Sprint radios went down totally as did our landlines," said Freeway Service Patrol Project Manager Mike Burgess.

"I quickly realized our service was down so I ran home grabbed my laptop," said Investment Banker Chris Pike of Wedbush Securities Inc.  He said they were lucky the company has a backup private network they could rely on instead.

PHOTOS: Fire under H-1 viaduct

SHOW THUMBNAILS

Previous

Next