Fires on Oahu

It’s hard for most of us to understand the island-wide impact of the “Attack on Pearl Harbor.” Many of us know that the Japanese attacked all major military bases on Oahu. And some of us know that there were civilian casualties and private property damage. But the extent of it has been lost over time. There were fires in Honolulu, Ewa, Waipahu, Wahiawa, and in the cane fields of Central Oahu.

When a Honolulu Gas Company storage tank in Iwilei was hit, gas company employees, including women, helped firefighters by carrying sandbags to the top of the tank where gas was shooting out. The employees built a dike around the hole as the firefighters filled it with water and foam to extinguish the fire.


Three houses on Hauoli and Agaroba Streets burned; Lunalilo School was on fire. The school was being used as a first aid station, and when fire struck, nurses and first aid personnel treated 18 casualties on the lawn, with coconut trees as their only protection from attack.

At King and McCully Streets, a block of stores and homes burned, leaving three people dead and 31 families homeless. (One of the houses that burned belonged to a Honolulu Fire Department firefighter who was fighting fires at Hickam Field during the attack.)
Most of the damage on Oahu was the result of faulty American anti-aircraft artillery (“ack-ack”) falling undetonated. However, in Wahiawa, a low-flying enemy plane strafed stores, cars and wounded several people. Another enemy plane crashed in a pineapple field, burning down five homes; that fire was put under control by a handful of firefighters and a troop of Boy Scouts.

In Central Oahu, enemy planes attacked the electrical supply warehouses in the fields resulting in several cane fires. An unseen problem with that was that many women and children from the nearby towns fled their homes and hid from the planes---in the cane fields.

All over Oahu, women and children sought safety. Some families drove their children “over the mountains” (the Koolau) to stay with relatives on the windward side, thinking they’d be safer being out of Honolulu. Some sought safety in caves, tall cane fields, huddled together in living rooms, or under kitchen tables.

Many of the homes could not be rebuilt for at least two years after the attack because building materials were scarce. Ships from the mainland which normally carried supplies, were loaded with military equipment, troops, emergency food, and little for personal consumption.




Over the course of the day the Honolulu Fire Department logged in 37 major fires and four Honolulu Fire Department firefighters were killed while assisting military firefighters at Hickam Field.





PHOTOS: McCully area fires and the Lunalilo School fire. (HWRD)

Mrs. Merrit A. Trease

If I could meet one woman that I read about during all this research, it is Mrs. Merrit A. Trease. She wasn't a grand hero. I haven't been able to find out anything about her except what I've posted here. I'm guessing that she is Esther P. Trease, who died on died January 19, 1992 because the obituary listed her husband as Merritt.


If anyone knows about her, could you please send me an email.

So what did Mrs. Trease do?

Well, she carved out a unique contribution--she tracked down photos of service men who had their photos taken with "hula girls" and were subsequently killed in action.

Why would she do that? you ask. Because their families wanted that one last photo of their son.

During the war, photographers thrived on taking pictures of sailors, soldiers and marines. Most of these photo studios were shoe box-size operations in Chinatown. Along with getting a tattoo, liquor, visit a prostitute or buy a velvet pillow embroidered with "I Love You, Mom," the men could have their pictures taken with a sweet little island girl in a cellophane grass skirt.

It's interesting to note that the Office of Price Management set the cost of everything sold in the Territory of Hawaii during the war--including “portrait with hula girl." The cost was set at seventy-five cents for two photos.

(If you are interested in a complete list of OPM prices you can find them in the Hawaii State Archives under the Office of Price Management. It's intriguing, everything and I do mean everything is listed.)

OK, back to Mrs. Trease. Many of these servicemen wrote home about their Waikiki adventures (well, maybe not all of them) and wrote about getting their photos taken. Unfortunately, many of them shipped out before picking up their photos, and of them, many died.

Letters from their family asking if that last photo of their loved one could be found were addressed simply to "The Army in Hawaii" or "The Navy in Hawaii." They letters had a similar feel to them--they wanted to see that last picture of their loved one having fun.

The military forwarded these letters to the Chamber of Commerce. Well, given the nature of these fly-by-night places, and the lack of any databases at the time, it was essentially an impossible task. At first, efforts were made, but you must picture Chinatown and the incredible flow of servicemen in and out of Honolulu. Think about going to a flea market months after a friend of yours bought something there, and trying to get information from the vendor. Now, add World War II.

Mrs. Trease, "hearing about these requests, volunteered her services to the Retail Board" to track down the photographs. (Honolulu Advertiser) She called on proper professional studios, and roamed the shops on the streets of Waikiki and Chinatown, urging photographers to index all “portraits” with basic identification.

Against incredible odds,Mrs. Trease was able to locate about half the photos. If you know anything about her, email me: dee.buckingham@gmail.com

NOTE: On March 21, 2011, I received an email from a descendant of Mrs. Trease. She claims that Mrs. Trease never mentioned any such volunteer activity during World War II. I greatly respect that opinion, but I will add, many family members were not aware of the services of these women until it came out during research and interviews. HOWEVER, I do not doubt the error of this post, I am stating that I have no contrary or positive proof since all my research is currently in storage. I do have a citation to the newspaper, with no date---that citation does no one any good.
When I dig out my notes I'll get back to this question.

Women of World War II Hawaii