2018-07-11 Fire Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2018 Page 2 ✓ Fiscal Year 2018/19: The May 4t" budget has a $200,000 reduction. He doesn't know if the reduction will be restored. They determined that they can operate with what was submitted. • Human Resources Division: BC Perreira reported that open recruitment starts today for retiring ACs, BCs, and Captain positions. • Other Departmental Activities: BC Perreira reported that FEMA has a lot of rules they must follow. All requests must be documented with a paper trail. Timesheets have a "Lava Incident" notation. They will not send personnel out when they feel it's not safe, although they don't have control over what other departments do. He was at a meeting last night where about 70% of the people are still living in their homes with SO2. The Mayor has made a proclamation to allow building tiny homes. He doesn't know what will happen after this event. They have been educating people on safety. They have to have that compassionate heart because the people there have lost everything. BC Perreira reported that Chief Rosario asked him to talk about the Prevention Bureau. They install smoke alarms. They advise Kupunas. They joined forces with the Red Cross for home inspections and smoke alarm installations, and it has expanded to Kona. They reach out to schools. They will be visiting 20-25 elementary schools to teach them about fire safety. They do K-6 but target grades 3 and 4. Canine Kaimi has been working with them for 10 years now. Scent discrimination is number one, and the trainer said they lose that ability as they get older. Kaimi passed his last certification test. When the time comes, he will fight for another canine. The Prevention Bureau will start a pilot program on August 1. He and a Kona Inspector will work 8 hours. Others in the bureau will work 24 hours. They will be tied back into the station, and this would be more like a team. They have a lot of events on weekends and evenings, and they hope to accomplish more work. If this pilot program works, they would have to do a reorganization and meet with the Mayor and union. Prevention staff are firefighters, so they can help with large incidents. He suggested to the Chief that they do a Fire Department Day to show-off the department. CHAIR'S REPORT ON MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION Chair Becker reported that he had a meeting with Manager Director Wil Okabe. They talked about a number of topics including the vehicle replacement program, spending and procurement requests, additional personnel, fire shelters, the Incident Command System (ICS), the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS), Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) updates, the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). A written summary of some of the discussion was distributed.