HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT FY 23-24 SEPTEMBER
2023 | SEPTEMBER FISCAL YEAR 23-24
FIRE CHIEF’S
REPORT
V Hawai’i Fire Department
25 Aupuni St., Suite 2501
Hilo, Hawai’i 96720
fire@hawaiicounty.gov
1
2023 | SEPTEMBER
September 11th Remembrance ..................................................................................... 2
Admin Div: Fiscal Branch Report ................................................................................. 3
Program Budget Goals ....................................................................................... 3
Admin Div: HR Branch Report ..................................................................................... 4
Program Budget Goals ....................................................................................... 4
Internal Recruitment within Department ................................................................ 4
Open-Competitive Recruitment ........................................................................... 4
Classification ................................................................................................... 4
Operations ............................................................................................................ 5
Statistics and Analytics ......................................................................................... 5
Emergency Operations Highlights ............................................................................ 6
Battalion 1, East Hawaiʻi ..................................................................................... 6
Battalion 2, West Hawaiʻi ................................................................................... 6
Special Operations ............................................................................................... 7
Support Services ..................................................................................................... 8
Emergency Medical Services Branch ......................................................................... 8
Training Services Branch ....................................................................................... 9
Volunteer Training Section .................................................................................... 10
Fire Prevention Branch .......................................................................................... 11
Logistics, Emergency Communications, and Vehicle Maintenance Section ....................... 12
Emergency Communications .............................................................................. 12
Vehicle Maintenance Shop ................................................................................. 12
Information Technology Highlights ...................................................................... 13
TABLE OF
CONTENTS:
2
2023 | SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER 11TH REMEMBRANCE
Twenty-Two Years
The year 2023 marks the twenty-second anniversary of the tragic events of September 11,
2001. While the entire nation reflects on the day that changed the world forever, for
firefighters, this annual remembrance holds a unique and deeply significant place in our
hearts. The importance of the 2023 remembrance of 9/11 to firefighters cannot be overstated,
as it serves as a solemn reminder of the sacrifices they make, the courage they exhibit, and the
resilience they embody every day.
Honoring the Fallen Heroes
On September 11, 2001, 343 firefighters gave their lives while courageously responding to the
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. These brave individuals ran
toward danger, selflessly putting their lives on the line to save others. It is a time to remember
their unwavering dedication to duty and their ultimate sacrifice.
Reflecting on the Brotherhood
Firefighters share a unique bond, often described as a brotherhood or sisterhood. The events
of 9/11 brought this bond into sharp focus, as firefighters from all over the country rushed to
New York City to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts. The 2023 remembrance of 9/11
allows firefighters to reflect on the solidarity and unity that emerged in the face of tragedy.
Paying Tribute to First Responders
While firefighters play a crucial role in disaster response, they are part of a larger community
of first responders that includes police officers, paramedics, and emergency medical
technicians. The 2023 remembrance of 9/11 is also an opportunity to pay tribute to all first
responders who put their lives on the line to protect and serve their communities.
Educating Future Generations
As time passes, it becomes increasingly important to educate future generations about the
events of 9/11 and the lessons learned from that day. The 2023 remembrance provides an
opportunity for firefighters to share their experiences and knowledge with younger
generations, ensuring that the memory of 9/11 and its impact on first responders is never
forgotten.
Conclusion
The 2023 remembrance of 9/11 holds immense importance for firefighters. It is a time to honor
the fallen, reflect on the bonds of brotherhood, emphasize resilience and preparedness, pay
tribute to all first responders, and educate future generations.
Deputy Fire Chief Eric Moller participates in a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony hosted by Waiākea High School
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
ADMIN DIV: FISCAL BRANCH REPORT
PROGRAM BUDGET GOALS MONTH YTD GOAL
Invoice Settlement within 30 days 86% 88% 90%
Pay-out CILV’s within 90 days 100% 100% 95%
Records Retention Schedule 0% 0% Mid-Year
Transition to Electronic Records 25% 25% 25% Qtr
Budget Category Adj
Appropriation
YTD
Expenditures
% Used Goal
Fire S&W 36,921,218.00 10,597,599.35 28.70 29.17
6221-6225 OCE 6,129,219.32 2,034,104.94 33.19 25.0
Equipment 1,732,784.89 449,727.27 25.95 N/A
Grants & Misc S&W 1,385,051.00 266,966.67 19.27 29.17
6226 OCE 286,225.00 55,170.89 19.28 25.0
Equipment 637,669.04 454,320.94 71.25 N/A
EMS S&W 14,799,686.00 3,762,453.01 25.42 29.17
6227 OCE 2,610,639.77 591,794.91 22.67 25.0
Equipment 1,510,417.50 110,417.50 7.31 N/A
Ocean Safety S&W 4791124.00 1,111,654.31 23.2 29.17
6228 OCE 306,302.83 189,432.64 61.84 25.0
Equipment 248,789.31 69,125.31 27.78 N/A
Total Budget 71,359,126.66 19,692.767.74 27.60
Grant Update
2023 CDBG The requisition for two brush trucks is with Purchasing. The brush
trucks will be purchased for the Ka‘ū and Puna volunteer fire
stations.
CDBG- MIT Wildfire
Mitigation
This grant will be used to purchase a brush truck for Ka‘ū, Kea‘au,
and Laupahoehoe fire stations.
FY 2021 AFG We received our order of 17 extractors and 21 dryers. Installation
pending. The grant is 71% expended as of 9/30/23.
FY 22 USDA Volunteer
Fire Capacity Project
The bid for one brush truck for volunteer station 20A awarded,
pending delivery.
FY 23 USDA Volunteer
Fire Capacity Project
Pending receipt of executed contract. This grant will fund three
brush trucks for our volunteer fire stations.
Kohanaiki Lifeguard
Tower (Fair Share funds) The requisition for a lifeguard tower at Kohanaiki is with Purchasing.
Leleiwi Lifeguard Tower
(Fair Share Funds)
The request for an appropriation was made to the County Council
and the first hearing is set for October 3, 2023.
Puna Geothermal
Venture (PGV) funds
The bid for one mobile breathing apparatus unit awarded, pending
delivery.
4
2023 | SEPTEMBER
ADMIN DIV: HR BRANCH REPORT
PROGRAM BUDGET GOALS MONTH YTD GOAL
Process actions within 15 working days 13 124 100%
Recruitment Actions >30days 1 3 90%
Promotion Actions >30days 1 6 90%
Personnel Actions within 30 days, <10% error 9 93 10%
Internal Recruitment within Department
Position Status Report
Fire Rescue Specialist Assessment center has not been scheduled yet.
Fire/EMS Specialist II DHR referred five names. Pending Assessment
center/interview.
Fire/EMS Specialist I Reallocation packet submitted for Fire Fighter Jose Vera Cruz III
to be reallocated effective October 1, 2023.
Open-Competitive Recruitment
Position Status Report
Fire Safety Specialist Interviews scheduled on October 2, 2023 for three candidates.
Fire Communications
Officer I Pending letter of interest and realistic job preview to be sent
out.
Fire Fighter Recruit
(Temp) Pending referred names from DHR.
Fire/EMS Recruit
(Temp) Pending referred names from DHR.
Water Safety Officer I Pending assignment to positions.
Clerk III (Auxiliary
Service Branch) DHR referred seven names. Interviews scheduled on October 9,
2023 for one candidate.
Clerk III (Ocean Safety
Branch) DHR referred seven names. Pending scheduling of interviews.
Classification
One Storekeeper reallocation to Program Support Technician effective August 16, 2023.
One Water Safety Officer I reinstated to Water Safety Officer II effective September 1, 2023.
Allocation of one Clerk III (Ocean Safety) position effective September 16, 2023
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
OPERATIONS
Statistics and Analytics
Total Calls for Calendar Year 2023
Type Sept. % YTD %
Fire 85 3% 834 4%
Overpressure, Rupture, Explosion- no fire 0 0% 3 0%
Rescue and EMS 1,822 72% 16,732 72%
Hazardous Cond. (no fire) 11 0% 208 1%
Service Call 159 6% 1,506 7%
Good Intent calls 410 16% 3,560 15%
False Alarm / False calls 31 1% 268 1%
Severe Weather 3 0% 9 0%
Special Incident Type 0 0% 13 0%
Other (not completed yet) 0 0% 0 0%
Totals 2,521 100% 23,133 100%
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Est. 2023
Total Calls 25,331 26,869 25,015 27,398 29,594 30,844
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
Response Times CY 2023
Statistic September % that meet.… YTD % that meet...
Avg. Turn out time (Fire) 3:31 (80 sec.) 6.70% 3:26 (80 sec.) 6.70%
Avg. Turn out time (EMS) 2:25 (60 sec.) 14.81% 2:28 (60 sec.) 13.95%
Statistic September % that meet 4
min.
YTD % that meet 4
min
Avg. Response Time (Fire) 13:09 14.12% 11:56 19.69%
Avg. Response Time (EMS) 8:58 33.08% 9:14 31.50%
Fire Impacts CY 2023
Call Type September YTD
Wildland calls (140, 141, 142, 143) 18 163
Acres burned 3 3,420
Structure Fires (110 & 111) 9 65
Property and Contents - Loss $672,500.00 $5,795,530.00
Property and Contents - Save $0.00 $1,495,515.00
Other fires (all other 100 series) 58 606
Property and Contents - Loss $00.00 $143,300.00
Property and Contents - Save $00.00 $3,000.00
Emergency Operations Highlights
Battalion 1, East Hawaiʻi
9/8, Inc#21252, Structure Fire: Hapuu St, Nanawale/District 10, Structure fire, no
injuries or fatalities.
9/24, Inc#22595, Rescue: 4 miles off Kaloli point/District 18, disabled vessel, no
injuries.
9/24, Inc#22647, Interagency Mission: Hilo Bay/District 1 & 2, Coast Guard and FBI
mission. Missing Vessel with suspicious background
Battalion 2, West Hawaiʻi
9/1, INC# 20755 Rescue: Boat on the Rocks at Kohanaiki. 4 people brought to shore, 1
transported to KCH. Boat was flipped and towed to harbor.
9/5, INC# 21054 Drowning: Swimmer in distress at Hookena Beach
9/6, INC# 21166 Structure Fire: Kekumu St. Waikoloa, a 4 unit apartment style building,
50% involved. No injuries, one family dog saved.
9/17, INC# 22046 Structure Fire: Kiekiena Pl. 3 car garage fire. Fire contained to
garage with smoke extension to main house. No deaths or injuries.
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
Special Operations
Haz-Mat
Chemical Safety Days (Chlorine) training completed on September 13 (TTX)& 14
(functional)
Kaumana and Makalei Ludlum Rad meters sent in for calibration.
Continuing to finalize specs on trucks and Hazmat vehicle
Ocean Safety
New WSO positions (Kohanaiki and Lieutenants) have been created, still working on
Training LT. and Chief Positions.
Received confirmation that equipment funding for Hapuna and Kua Bay has been
approved for FY24.
Rescue
RB7 (Radon) update. Upon completing the test runs after recent repairs, it was
identified that there was a significant fuel leak from the port side fuel tank. The boat
will have to once again undergo repairs to replace the fuel tanks. No timeline for
repairs.
X-Vehicle specs for both stations have been submitted for bids.
Incident heat map for September 2023
8
2023 | SEPTEMBER
SUPPORT SERVICES
Emergency Medical Services Branch
PulsePoint Funding
We were very fortunate to receive support through our alternative funding efforts from the
Hilo Medical Center Foundation for $8,000 to assist with our PulsePoint renewal cost.
PulsePoint is an app that anyone can download to their smart phone for free. The app uses the
current location of a user and will alert them if someone in their vicinity is in need of CPR. The
goal of PulsePoint is to increase the possibility that a victim in cardiac arrest will receive
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quickly. PulsePoint also has the ability to notify the
rescuer of where the closest automated external defibrillator is located.
Hands-Only CPR and AED Training
The EMS Branch assisted with a community education Hands-Only CPR and AED training at UH
Hilo. Many of the individuals who participated in this training were involved in a recent cardiac
arrest save while playing pickle ball in Hilo. A big mahalo goes out to Captain Keolanui for
coordinating this successful event.
CPR Certification Class
The EMS Branch assisted with a CPR certification class for the 52nd firefighter recruit class.
Paramedic Class Update
Our 9 paramedic students enrolled in the 2023 Fall class have completed their advanced
cardiovascular life support certifications this month and are all doing well.
FMS II Recruitment
Our FMS II recruitment closed on September 19th. We are targeting to have the assessment
center by the middle of October.
Controlled Substances Certificate Renewal
We have received our certificate of registration for controlled substances from the State of
Hawaii. This certificate renewal is valid until October 31, 2024 and has been distributed to all
medic stations for posting.
e-Commerce Store
The EMS Branch is currently working on the EMS Supply e-Commerce Store. This online store
format will be used by stations to order EMS supplies. We hope to roll-out this program on
November 1, 2023.
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
Community Paramedicine Program
Our Community Paramedicine program continues to be very busy assisting with high utilizers
of the 911 system. Many of these individuals were able to benefit from free durable medical
equipment that we were able to acquire through grant funding. These efforts have led to many
high utilizers staying out of the 911 system and also leading to an improved lifestyle.
Training Services Branch
Recruit Class 52 Update
Hawai’i Fire Department Recruit Class 52 has concluded their Firefighter I training and is
preparing to test for their Pro-Board certification exams. The class also completed their
Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training, led by FEO Micah Tsue and FMSII Reyn
Shimooka with support from the EMS Branch. Five WSO also attended and passed the two-
week training course.
Mahalo
Training would like to express our gratitude to FEO Micah Tsue and newly promoted FHMS Paul
Umemoto for their time and service as they return to Emergency Operations. FEO Jeremy
Tekurio will be a welcome addition to our team, to on boarded in October.
10
2023 | SEPTEMBER
Forcible Entry Training
Fire Training Specialist Adam Veloria and ARFF RTO Ka’eo
Ortiz delivered basic forcible entry training to Station 12
personnel. Both personnel collaborated to create the lesson
plan, demonstration, and skills sessions as a model for cadre-
led task-level instruction to fire companies.
Blue Card Incident Commander Certification
Five personnel completed the Blue Card Command Simulation
Lab to earn their Blue Card Incident Commander Certification
on September 27-29 at Hilo ARFF. Five additional personnel
will be scheduled to complete this process shortly as part of
this command-and-control program evaluation project.
Volunteer Training Section
Quarterly Volunteer Captains’ Meeting
The quarterly volunteer captains’ meeting was held on 9/23 where the topics of discussion
were the August brush fires in Maui and West Hawaii. FEO Cody Mattos of Company 5-Charlie
(Fern Forest) and Fire Chaplain Rene Godoy received recognition for their dedicated service
and continued commitment to the volunteer effort.
1-Alpha (Pepeekeo)
No call outs. Performed station maintenance, groundskeeping, and continued to train on pump
operations and hose handling.
5-Delta (Fern Acres)
Boosted their numbers with the addition of four new volunteers.
7-Bravo (Kalaoa)
Conducted vehicle maintenance and several trainings on their own to
include brush fire training, ladder training, and FLAIM system
training. They also responded to smoke sighted, brush fire on
Manawalea street, rubbish fire on Wainanani street, brush fire on Ali’i
drive, and rubbish fire on Kaiminani drive.
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
9-Alpha (Waiki’i), 9-Bravo (Kanehoa)
Participated in the Resilience Fair in Waimea on September 9th.
9-Bravo (Kanehoa)
Conducted 3 trainings on their own in the month of September.
10-Delta (Ainaloa)
Responded to four alarms consisting of smell of smoke and other nuisance fires.
11-Alpha (Na’alehu), 11-Charlie (Discovery Harbour), 11-Delta
Had a quiet month with no call outs and were able to focus on familiarizing with their
equipment and apparatuses.
16-Bravo (Waikoloa)
Met on three Saturdays and one Wednesday evening. Five personnel attended for about two
hours each meeting.
19-Alpha (Pu’uanahulu)
Had their members trained in the American Heart Association’s HeartSaver first aid/AED/CPR
program with all members successfully completing the course.
Fire Prevention Branch
Highlights
The Fire Prevention branch investigated thirteen (13) complaints, conducted three (3)
fire investigations and eight (8) residential safety inspections, gave twelve (12) public
education presentations, and reviewed eighty-eight (88) plans.
Fire Prevention Inspections
Inspection Type September FYTD
Fire Protection System Acceptance
Testing 31 60
Commercial 13 115
Complaint Investigation 13 76
Re-Inspections Commercial 12 73
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
Certificate of Occupancy 5 11
Educational 4 12
RE-Inspections Educational 2 2
AST/UST/LPG Site Inspection 1 1
Fireworks Site and Storage 0 12
DOH Ag Burn Site Inspection 0 0
Tent Site Inspection 0 5
Occupancy Load Enforcement 0 0
Total 81 367
Logistics, Emergency Communications, and Vehicle
Maintenance Section
Emergency Communications
Fire Communications Control Center Updates
We now have four FCO Is who have started call-taking and dispatching during day
shift.
We had a contract hire from an accredited PSAP work with the trainees on call taking
and provide feedback on our overall training program for Fire Communication Officers.
We have finalized a testing process for new hire candidates to assess their computer,
typing and multi-tasking skill set.
Warehouse
We have received the new PPE extractors and dryers. Thank you, AC Chadwick, for
spearheading the grant.
Clerk III Vacancy
There is an opening for the clerk position in auxiliary services which we hope to fill this month.
In The Works
Multiple large projects are continuing--replacement air bags, extrication tool replacements,
and bed replacements are some of them.
Vehicle Maintenance Shop
Apparatus and Equipment Repair Updates:
Type Sept.
Repairs/Service Completed 67
Service/Trouble Calls 22
Contracted Out and Tows 8
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2023 | SEPTEMBER
Information Technology Highlights
SCIP (Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan) meeting in Oahu.
Joint Communication Center meeting
MDT infrastructure setup for donated fire engine from Honolulu Fire Department, HFD
625.
Added hydrants for Hawaii Community Correctional Center Hale Nani location to
Spillman.
Added hydrants for Waikoloa Village to Spillman.
Excel workbooks for EPR FireWorks.
EPR FireWorks transition meetings.
ESO update on Medic Toughbooks.
Shopify store website setup for EMS Supplies.
END REPORT
HFD personnel pose with Interim Administrator of Maui Emergency Management Agency,
Darryl Oliveira, as part of their 3-week deployment supporting HIEMA.