2019-11-13 Fire Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Fire Commission Minutes of November 13, 2019 Page 2 ➢ FY 2020/2021: They were instructed to submit three budget proposals: status quo, 5% reduction, and 8% reduction. They only submitted a status quo budget because a reduction would be a cut in services which they cannot do. • Human Resources Division: They have been aggressively filling all vacancies. Two recruit classes are going on. Emergency Operations Division ➢ Battalion I, East Hawaii: Two kayakers were rescued about a quarter mile off shore fronting the break wall. In another case, a lost mountain biker was rescued from the slope of Mauna Kea. A PTA Medivac Blackhawk assisted with extricating the victim before nightfall. They conducted various school fire inspections. ➢ Battalion II, West Hawaii: A swimmer in distress was rescued at Mahukona. Another swimmer in distress was rescued via chopper out of Pololu Valley. Commissioner St. Ambrogio commended the Fire Department on their amazing rescues. Support Services Division ➢ Volunteer Training: Volunteer Commander Bertsch reported that the Captain's meeting will be held on December 21 at 10:00 a.m. in Waimea. They will be doing wildland fire training. He will send Ms. Pelayo a map and directions. Their volunteer numbers are increasing. Usually, when the economy is robust, they don't usually have volunteers. Recent demographics have been female and younger. In talking with this group, they all have an aspiration to be career fire fighters. They want an introduction and experience. The Fire Department wants the best of the best in the career department. They can flush out people on the volunteer side. Apparatus vehicles are in good working condition, but they are seeing end of life of some vehicles. He has worked with Matson to ship volunteer vehicles for free. The Active 911 system is working. They have not had any significant events. • New Projects/Business Deputy Chief Uchida reported that they are working on permits to do renovations on the Paradise Park Station. • Public Relations ➢ Downtown Ho`olaule`a: They assisted with the Downtown Ho`olaule`a. Council Chair Aaron Chung used his contingency funds for their overtime costs. ➢ Ironman: The Council told them to request funds from Ironman for overtime costs. However, Chief Rosario decided not to ask for the funds because Ironman had already donated $50,000 to the Fire Department. They did set up stations in downtown Kailua.