For more than two hours yesterday, Honolulu firefighters battled a blaze at Hawaiian Mission Elementary and Intermediate School in Makiki — the second school fire in less than a week.

Many residents in the Makiki neighborhood stood outside their apartment buildings and watched as nine engines responded to the fire. The Honolulu Fire Department received the first alarm at 11:50 a.m. No one was injured.

Thick black smoke streamed out of two attic windows on opposite ends of the school's auditorium and main office building and rolled through the surrounding streets.

The ceiling of the auditorium suffered the most damage, said fire Capt. Jerry Spencer. Damage to the building at 1415 Makiki Street was estimated at $60,000. The cause of the fire had yet to be determined.

Deloris Trujillo, superintendent of the Seventh-day Adventist schools in Hawai'i, which runs Hawaiian Mission, said that while the auditorium suffered the most damage, the entire building suffered smoke and water damage and will not be used this summer. About 35 students are enrolled in the school's summer program, which will not be interrupted, she said.

"The front building will have to be rebuilt this summer and we hope it can get done," Trujillo said. "We're just glad no one was hurt. That is our main concern."

Firefighters were met with thick black smoke that made it difficult to maneuver through the building, so they called for backup, Spencer said.

"If they don't call the fire under control right away, and in this case, they didn't find the seat of the fire although they had it contained in that one building, they normally continue to call for more assistance," Spencer said.

Spencer said the fire didn't escalate to the severity of Tuesday's University Laboratory School blaze because the building was made mostly of cement.

Anton Krucky, 53, of Hawai'i Kai was enjoying a potluck lunch on the grounds of the school with other members of the City Church of Honolulu, which uses Hawaiian Mission for services and gatherings. The church had just completed services when smoke began to appear.

They called 911 at first sight of the smoke and a quick sweep of the building confirmed no one was inside, he said. Everyone then watched from across the street as firefighters arrived. Krucky said he first noticed smoke billowing out of a window and then heard crackling noises and sparks coming from wires along the building.

"We didn't see any flames until the firemen were on the roof," he said. "While they were on the roof getting things settled, maybe something opened up because flames started coming out."

Tracy Miyashiro, a church member from Moanalua, said there were at least 30 children on the premises when the smoke began pouring out of the building, but none was inside. Getting the kids away from the building was the main concern, she said.

"At first it was white smoke, so we kind of thought someone may be inside cooking or something," Miyashiro said. When it became apparent that it was not cooking smoke but a fire "the first thing that came to mind was UH Lab School," she said. "It was a little frightening, especially when the flames came roaring out of the window."

While this is the second school fire in less than a week, Spencer said there is no connection between them. The cause of the fire at the Lab School still has not been determined, he said. Damage in that fire has been estimated at $6 million to the building and $500,000 to its contents.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.