2022-12-07 Fire Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 4 Chair Kosaki asked when the alarm comes in for a police call, if police aren't on the scene and they need to stage, can they acknowledge and say they're responding, but staging? Chief Todd stated they're still exploring how to get the most accurate data. Chair Kosaki asked if he networks with other departments to see how they do it because they must have the same issues. Chief Todd stated he's not sure if a lot of them are tracking it, locally. Honolulu does, but he hasn't had a chance to sit in their stations. They basically had external expertise and figured it out. HFD has been heavily reliant on external IT, up until recently when he got an IT position for the department. • Fire Impacts (Calendar Year): Total acres burned this year is 18,196. November was a slow month, the largest chunk of that was the 17,000-acre fire that occurred at PTA. Chair Kosaki asked if the Hazmat Tech training class is the full class or if retraining is scheduled for two weeks. Chief Todd stated it's the full class, he believes the class was shortened but will check on that. Commissioner Wolf asked if HFD oversees the fire science class at Hilo High School. Chief Todd stated no, they don't oversee the class, however, last year he did a presentation for a class and Chief Moller taught the class for a day this year. They're involved, but the class is run by the teacher at the school. • EMS Report: Chief Todd reported that the went through procurement to pick up a new box truck. This bid came in at $110,417. All personnel in the 51st fire recruit class have successfully completed their state and national registry exams to officially become state-licensed EMTs. The EMS Branch facilitated a clerk III interview and a fire medical specialist III assessment center in the month of November. HFD received new Panasonic Toughbook laptops for patient charting which are currently being programmed. These new laptops will be distributed shortly. • Training Report: Annual Hazardous Materials First Responder of Operations and Hazardous Materials Technician refresher training has been completed by 95% of personnel. The 51 st Recruit Class was called upon to assist with the Pahala Brushfire. Recruits got real-world experience in wildland fire suppression, including fire attack, fuel removal, and pump operations. The International Association of Fire Fighters Fire Ground Survival Program was delivered to the 51 st Recruit Class. Chair Kosaki wanted to know what happened to the old EMS truck. Chief Todd stated they still have it, but it has mechanical issues. When they get the new truck, the old one will possibly be given to training, if they can fix it. • Volunteer Fire Report: Chief Todd explained that John Bertsch's title as "volunteer commander" has been changed back to "assistant chief' due to the ranking structure. They are also looking to potentially create some battalion chief positions