Choking Ghost, Creaking Doors All Part of Haunted Fire House
[Original headline: THE KAKAAKO FIRE HOUSES: Are they haunted?]
A shrill cry awoke the sleeping firefighters at the new Kakaako Fire Station. John Clark rushed to the captain's quarters and shook him as he lay screaming.
The captain awoke dazed and said a ghost "was sitting on his chest choking him," said Clark, now a deputy fire chief.
Apparitions. Screen doors creaking open by themselves on windless nights. Those are some of the experiences of those once stationed at the historic Kakaako Fire Station on South Street and the newer station on Queen Street, which opened in the mid-1970s.
Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi, who was stationed at the historic fire station during the early 1970s, declined to say whether he had seen any unusual sightings, but said, "I can verify it's a haunted station."
Some people think the station, built in 1929, is haunted because it is near a graveyard where 1,000 bodies were buried during a smallpox epidemic in the mid-1850s, Clark said.
City officials are revisiting the issue of possibly uncovering the remains that may be on the station property as they move forward with plans to build a permanent headquarters and museum for the Honolulu Fire Department.
Some firefighters shared their unusual experiences at the two fire stations.
Capt. Jack Dennis of the new Kakaako Fire Station recalled how a firefighter's dog suddenly became frightened while inside the structure in the late 1970s.
"I never see one dog like that. All his hairs stood and everything," said Dennis, adding other firefighters soon followed the dog out of the fire station.
Another firefighter refused to walk up to the dorm area on the second floor unless he was accompanied by another, Clark said. "No matter how tired he was, he wouldn't go up by himself," he said.
Ti leaves and Hawaiian salt were placed in the corners of the firefighters' living quarters to ward off evil spirits and purify the area, Clark said. After a formal blessing took place, no disturbances occurred during Clark's stay at the station, he said.
Though ghost stories of the Kakaako Fire Stations have thrived, it has not prompted firefighters to request a transfer to another station. "I think everyone accepts that's part of station life," Clark said.
Some of the new firefighters do not believe the stories veterans have told about the old and new buildings.
Firefighter Douglas Bennett, who has been stationed at the new Kakaako Fire Station for four years, said, "I have to see it to believe it."
"I kinda go with a karma approach. If you're a good person, you shouldn't have to worry about bad stuff."
No records indicate whether the Honuakaha Smallpox Cemetery extended to the Kakaako Fire Station site on Queen Street.
• Story originally published by:
Honolulu Star-Bulletin / Hawaii | Rosemarie Bernardo - Aug. 18.02
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