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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-08-25 Fire Commission MinutesHAWAI`I FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES AUGUST 25, 2022 WEST HAWAFI CIVIC CENTER, BUILDING A, COUNCIL CHAMBERS 74-5044 ANE KEOHOKALOLE HWY., KAILUA-KONA, HI CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Kosaki called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. Present: Gerald Kosaki, Chair Gregory Henkel, Commissioner Shon Magsalin, Commissioner Wesley Mattos, Commissioner Gene Nakashima, Commissioner A quorum was present. Absent: Benjamin Agdeppa, Vice Chair Corey Luke, Commissioner Daniel Paleka, Commissioner Carlene Wolf, Commissioner Also present: Eric Moller, Deputy Fire Chief John Bertsch, Volunteer Commander Keyra Wong, Deputy Corporation Counsel (left the meeting at 9:19 a.m Suzanna Tiapula, Deputy Corporation Counsel (arrived at 9:15 a.m.) Charisse Correa, Secretary PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Nakashima motioned to approve the regular and executive session minutes of July 21, 2022. Commissioner Henkel seconded, it carried unanimously, and the minutes were approved. Chair Kosaki announced that Chief Todd is absent today. He asked Deputy Moller to have the chief notify the commission if he will not be present at meetings in the future. There were agenda items that the commission wanted to address with the chief. He stated that the commission will try to accommodate and reschedule meetings to days that Chief Todd will be available. FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT Deputy Chief Moller Highlighted items from the Chief's Report. A detailed report is on file. Sate of Department: ✓ Deputy Moller stated that overall, the state of the department is good, they're going in the right direction. HFD personnel work hard, with limited resources Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 2 and an incredible amount of hours. They do it professionally and well above expectations. ✓ Several vacancies were filled. Two battalion chiefs, nine fire captains, seven fire equipment operators, two medical specialists, four hazardous material specialists, four fire rescue specialists, and five new water safety officers. Graduation of the 50t" recruit class with 16 firefighters. ✓ HFD received a new brush truck for Laupahoehoe, but the weight of it is too much for the bridges. It's currently in Kea'au but will eventually be in Pahala. They are currently working on obtaining three new brush trucks to fill that gap and obtain the right truck for Laupahoehoe. HFD Fielded two tankers and a brush truck from the Sayre Foundation. The Sayre Foundation is also assisting to replace Chopper 2. They also received new water crafts for the beaches. ✓ Rescue personnel completed Confined Space Training. They are looking to get their hazmat back into the haztech class. HFD also participated in the United States Coast Guard search and rescue exercise. ✓ HFD received an additional $1.2 million from the state for new ambulances and equipment for this new fiscal year. ✓ Deputy Moller stated they have areas of emphasis they want to concentrate on in the upcoming year such as the community risk assessment. To properly provide the services the public anticipates, they need to know what the public anticipates. Along with that, they don't have "standards of cover" which sets the staffing and response criteria to provide the services that the community risk assessment would bear out. They received funding to contract these two things out, as well as the strategic plan. ✓ HFD is working on establishing a fleet lifecycle replacement program. They are also looking at a facility improvement plan. They are currently conducting inspections of every structure quantifying what the issues are and they will provide this report to the Department of Public Works. • Highlights & Outreach: ✓ Blessing of the water safety craft. ✓ 50t" recruit class graduation. ✓ 33rd Turtle Independence Day. ✓ Relay for Life. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 3 ✓ Fireworks task force was put together to evaluate how fireworks impact the community. ✓ Physical agility test for the next recruitment took place at Hilo High School. 53 people qualified and will be taking the written test. ✓ Helicopter scoping meeting. Chopper 2 will be replaced, HFD will be obtaining an Airbus H125. It's currently on the production line and will be delivered sometime in late spring to early spring next year. ✓ Revitalize Puna, which focuses on rebuilding after the lava flow. ✓ HFD had a branch level meeting, with battalion chiefs and above. ✓ Steve Erb retirement presentation. • Budget: Total spending through July is at 14.04% Chair Kosaki stated that the last expenditure report was sent to the commission in February. He asked if the commission could look at it every quarter, every four months, starting at the beginning of the fiscal year. Chair Kosaki stated electronically is fine with him, he doesn't need it printed. Deputy Moller stated that's no problem and will distribute it to the commission on a quarterly basis. Human Resources: ✓ Recruitments o Fire captain — written exam scheduled for next week o Fire equipment operator — MQ reviews. 49 people met the qualifications, they are currently down to 42. o Clerk III for training o Clerk I I I for fire prevention o Clerk III for auxiliary services o Clerk for EMS is moving to the training division. o Fire communications officer I — two applicants scheduled for pre -entry medical examination. o Storekeeper — recruitment closed yesterday. Emergency Operations Division: ✓ Total calls for July are at 2,536, with a total of 16,781 for the calendar year. ✓ Turn -out times for July — HFD is meeting 22% for fire suppression and 14% for EMS. ✓ There were several structure fires, two search and rescues, and several brush fires. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 4 Special Operations: ✓ Hazmat - Working with the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to fund replacements of Hazmat personnel's radiation monitors. ✓ Ocean Safety - Working on converting temporary hires to permanent (water safety officers). ✓ Rescue - Rescue Boat 2 (Force) engine replacement. The contract has been awarded to the winning bidder. Support Services: ✓ The 50th recruit class completed their EMT training and successfully completed all their national and state testing. ✓ The fall 2021 MICT class has completed its state exams. ✓ HFD currently has five new medics out for bid. These new medics will replace medics 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11. The two new medics procured last fiscal year that will be assigned to Stations 5 and 15 are tentatively scheduled to be completed in November 2022. Training Branch: Twenty Personnel attended National Fire Academy training titled "Decision Making for Initial Company Operations." • Volunteer Training Section: ✓ Company 1A participated in the Independence Day Parade. ✓ Company 10D & 18A setup a static display at the "Activate Puna" event. ✓ Companies 11A, 11 C, and 11 D participated in the Ka'u Independence Day Parade. ✓ Company 7B hosted their annual 4th of July Pancake Fundraiser for the Sayre Foundation. Volunteer Commander Bertsch stated it was the 12t" Volunteer Commander John Bertsch reported that they are seeing a significant trend with the volunteer program regarding recruitment, retention, and enthusiasm. They have been more participatory in community events. They've seen a 30% increase in volunteer personnel. Deputy Chief Moller stated that they have brought people on that are specialists in certain fields. They have a volunteer who was a fire investigator and has assisted their fire investigation teams. Some also have medical experience and can perform CPR and first aid. The volunteer unit has been very instrumental in the past year in Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 5 bridging some gaps as far as educational programs and assisting in specialist fields. They are in the process of redeveloping the standard operating procedures for the volunteers. They've broken them down into responders, support services, and specialists. Deputy Moller stated that they had a volunteer firefighter, Lizzy Stabo who suffered injuries last year. She will be back on the island on Monday and will be attending the Sayre Foundation dinner on Saturday. She is going through more procedures and asked the commission to keep her in their thoughts. He also stated that an ambulance was involved in an accident on Oahu, which killed the patient and the medic is currently in critical condition. He asked the commission to keep them in their thoughts and prayers as well. Fire Prevention Branch: ✓ Deputy Chief Moller reported that the fire prevention branch investigated five structure fires during the month of July. He also noted that there have been many structure fires to a lot of unpermitted structures. HFD has been able to start building trends. Puna seems to be the biggest area of structure fires, a lot of them being caused by squatters. ✓ Plan review statistics for FY 2021-2022 approximately 874 plans were reviewed compared to 483 plans in FY 2020-2021. ✓ The Fire Prevention Branch investigated 19 complaints. This is a large increase compared to last month as the public is increasingly concerned with overgrown vegetation, brush, and mulch on their neighboring property during the summer months and brush fire season. ✓ There were 23 fire investigation records requests and six public education presentations. Logistics, Emergency Communication Section, and Vehicle Maintenance Sections: ✓ An annual inventory was completed, there were 376 missing items. This is after about three or four years of the program not being looked after. ✓ Captain Domingo conducted hands -only CPR at Waiakeawaena school for over 100 employees. ✓ Maintenance completed 72 total repairs/services, 22 service or trouble calls, and nine contracted out and tows. Commissioner Magsalin stated that she read a letter to the editor in the Tribune - Herald two weeks ago. The writer criticized how filthy the buildings were and stated there were issues with mold. Deputy Moller asked which building they were referring to. Chair Kosaki stated Central Fire Station, the writer said the building Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 6 looked filthy and dilapidated to the public. He understands that it's a historical landmark and it can't be torn down. He stated the whole purpose of the letter to the editor was "can't we make it more pleasing to the eye of the public since it's the main station in Hilo?" Deputy Moller stated he did not read the article, but fully agrees. He stated it's not only filthy and bad looking, he doesn't think it's sound. One of his biggest priorities when he first started his position last July was to get personnel out of central. A structural engineer conducted an evaluation and said it's not going to fall down imminently, but without repairs, it'll become a problem to get it fixed and be able to utilize it in the future. DPW stated they don't have the funding to spend on the project right now. Deputy Moller stated that Waiakea and other stations are also bad, but in his opinion, 11 is the worst. In Pahala, the metal inside is rusted through, and parts of the roof are falling off. In his opinion, the living conditions of HFD firefighters are horrid and unacceptable. He understands the money constraints, but there is a lot of fixing that needs to take place. Chair Kosaki stated that he understands that the Sayre Foundation was expressing interest in donating more money towards the rescue watercraft program to expand it. From his experience, when he was overseeing ocean safety, they started the program with just one jet ski in Hilo, one in Puna, and one backup for each. The vision was to eventually expand it to more places such as Kahalu'u and Punalu'u. He asked Deputy Moller his feelings on this because he heard there was some resistance to the program expanding. Deputy Moller stated that there hasn't been resistance. HFD is expecting to get the funding for two additional jet skis. Chair Kosaki asked his opinion on expanding the program to more sites throughout the island. Deputy Moller stated that in his opinion, it's great, the service is needed out there. Just like the community risk assessment, they need to determine which beaches they're going to support and look at how they'll support them effectively. Chair Kosaki stated that jet skis have been proven to be the safest and quickest way to respond to someone that's in trouble and it's much safer for the lifeguards. He stated that there's so much shoreline on this island that's inaccessible. With the deployment of the jet ski, if someone is in trouble in Waipio the ski will be able to deploy right there and get them to safety. If there is some resistance, he asked Deputy Moller to try to get personnel below him to get them on board and expand the program. Commissioner Henkel asked if personnel in the maintenance department are able to work on the skis. Deputy Moller stated that their mechanics are qualified. Deputy Moller stated there isn't resistance regarding expanding the program. This could be a misunderstanding because they're looking for 4-wheelers first. A chief is trying to replace the 4-wheelers on the beach because he feels it's a priority over additional jet skis, but under no circumstances are they against additional jet skis. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 25, 2022 Page 7 Recess was called at 10:20 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:39 a.m. Chair Kosaki stated that he wants to address the meeting dates. Meeting dates are scheduled for the rest of the year, but there are a couple of things that came up. The September 22nd meeting will remain the same. October's meeting is scheduled for the 27t" but the chief is not available. The 14t" is the only other date that works for the commissioners, but it depends on the availability of the venue. Ms. Correa will check to see if the venue is available on October 14t". Chair Kosaki stated that he won't be here on November 17t", but the vice chair could run the meeting. EXECUTIVE SESSION (CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC) Commissioner Henkel motioned to meet in executive session to consider complaints against employees of the fire department, where matters affecting privacy will be involved, to work on the evaluation of the Fire Chief, and for the purpose of consulting with the commission's attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS Sections 92-5, (a) (2) (4) (6) and the Hawaii County Charter 13-20 (b). Commissioner Nakashima seconded, no discussion, and it carried unanimously. Motion to reconvene open session made by Commissioner Nakashima, seconded by Commissioner Henkel, and it carried unanimously, open session reconvened. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting is scheduled for September 22, 2022, at 9:00 a.m., in the County Building, Council Chambers, Suite 1401, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo, HI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:24 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: CHARISSE CORREA, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: GERALD KOSAKI, CHAIR