2025-10-23 Fire Commission Minutes

Home

Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes October 23, 2025 Page 2 FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Todd highlighted items from the Fire Chief's Report. A detailed report is on file. • Fiscal: The report shows "No Data" for many sections due to a county-wide rollout of a new system, which cannot currently produce expenditure reports. The Finance Department indicated a fix might be 4-6 weeks away. Salary & wages (S&W) data is still available as it remains on the old Eden Fresh system. The budget is 16.74% expended, though this is not 100% accurate. • Grants: The department was awarded the SAFER 2025 Grant for $2.678 million, funding 12 new firefighter positions. Grant applications for AFG (radios) and FP&S (prevention equipment) were denied. A Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) was not awarded to HFD, though three were awarded to the State of Hawai'i and one to the non-profit HWMO on-island. • Human Resources: A new annual recruitment and promotional calendar was created. The department's overall vacancy rate is 12%; the communications branch is highest at 16%. Internal investigations are averaging 120+ days, exceeding the less than 60-day goal. An independent investigator is being procured to help clear the backlog. o Several new hires are scheduled to start on December 1st: Water Safety Officers, five new paramedics, four new Fire Communications Officers, and an assistant fire chief. Two new clerks have been hired, two other clerk positions are being filled, and account clerks are in the hiring process. Both Water Safety captain positions were staffed, effective October 16th. • Emergency Operations: The budget is 30% expended on S&W (goal: 29%). Chief Todd reported on program objectives (vehicle checks, training, chute time, report completion) as listed in the report. o In response to commission questions regarding a mechanic for West Hawai'i, Chief Todd stated he was touring a potential shared maintenance facility at NELHA OTEC that day. He noted the position is funded and moving forward with DHR, and he hopes to have the mechanic stationed in West Hawai'i within three months. • Reporting System: The department switched from the INFERS system to the new National Emergency Incident Reporting System (NEIRS) on October 1st. • Total Calls (Calendar Year 2025): As of September, there were 115 fire calls, 17708 EMS calls, and 632 other calls (total 2,455). Year-to-date call volume is 23,131, with an estimated end-of-year total of 30,841.