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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 Chief's Report for January MeetingCHIEF’S REPORT (01/21/2014) I. Budget • FY 2014/2015 • FY 2015/2016 II. Alternative Funding and Grant • Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant Programs • Community Development Block Grant Programs • State Highways Grant Programs • Other Federal Grant Programs • Community Grant Programs • Capital Improvement Projects III. Human Resources Division 1) Recruitments Open-competitive recruitments • Water Safety Officer I – Eight new hires (6 full-time and 2 part-time) hired on December 16, 2014. • Fire Equipment Mechanic recruitment initiated. Incumbent will be retiring effective December 31, 2014. Targeted hire date is February 2, 2015. Internal within department recruitment • Fire/Emergency Medical Services Specialist II – Assessment center scheduled on January 13, 2015. • Fire Rescue Specialist – pending submittal of additional documents. Deadline to submit additional documents is January 6, 2015. • Fire Prevention Captain – Pending submittal of additional documents. Deadline to submit additional documents is January 6, 2015. 2) Classification & Pricing • One Water Safety Officer I reallocated to Water Safety Officer II effective January 16, 2015. IV. Emergency Operations Division OPERATIONS: West Hawai‘i 1) Completion of the annual school inspections both public and private, by the In District fire companies in conjunction with the Fire Prevention Bureau. 2) December 10, 2014 - Participated in the State Department of Transportation’s Triennial Emergency Operations drill at Kona International Airport. Ran mock scenario with Airport Crash Crews, Hawai‘i Air National Guard and others in a simulated hard landing of a large airliner. Participated in ICS and EMS operations with emphasis on triage and transport. 3) Conducted Inspection and Fire Pre-plan of the Pu‘uanahulu Land Fill complex. Consulted on improvements to their green waste processing facility to help prevent and/or control future large fires. 4) December 12-17, 2014: Multiple Day event: INC # 22734 Search and Rescue operations at Hāpuna Beach State Park for missing 13 year old boy. Ended in body recovery. 5) Finalized specifications and funding proposal at Company 9 for an offer by property owners on Kohala Mountain Road to purchase and donate (possibly thru Sayer Foundation) a UTV (Similar to the Kawasaki Mule) with supporting trailer and equipment to be used for hard to access firefighting operations and possible dual use rescue set-up. 6) December 23, 2014: Flash Flood mitigation involving damage and closure of bridge on Akoni Pule Highway. Continuing to monitor progress in the repair of the main water line feeding the community north of the effected bridge in the Makapala /Niulii area. Emergency temporary water supply only to the residents, not enough to supply hydrants. Alternate water sources and responding apparatus have been identified in case of structure and/or brush fire in the affected area. East Hawai‘i 1) Active Shooter/ Weapons of Mass Destruction Exercise at Hilo Airport on December 4, 2014. Present was FAA, Airport Admin, FBI, DHS, Crash Fire, Airport security, TSA, HPD, and HFD. Met with FBI, CIA, TSA, HPD on Special response assignment for HFD regarding presidential aircraft at Hilo airport December 16, 2014. 2) Search and rescue: University of Nations student in Waipi‘o Valley; 6 hikers rescued from Waimanu Valley 12/23; Hiker rescued from hunting trail leading to Ainaloa fire break 12/19 (Lava seeker). 3) Structure fires: December 7 - Kahili Street, Honoka‘a; December 9 – Waiākea Uka Gym; December 31 – Lehua Street. 4) Orientation/Training with Lifeflight Helicopters at Leilani Estates Community Center: EMS1, CERT team members, Co-10, Co-10A, Leilani Association members, BC1. 5) Continue Lava assessment, surveys, and revolving response protocols. SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Hazmat: 1) Equipment status – still working on funding for the replacement of obsolete equipment. Looking to possibly obtain DHS funding for this. 2) Identified specific locations near Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) to deploy our Area Rae monitors in the event of an incident at PGV. Awaiting approval and implementation of our proposed guidelines. 3) Addressing our equipment and training issues with the Local Emergency Planning Committee to request for assistance with this. 4) Will be assisting the CST with their drills on Maui in January. A Hazmat Captain and Chief Kosaki will be attending and will assist in the development of our annual hazmat drill scheduled to commence in March. Rescue: 1) We completed our Dive Rescue I class in December and brought in an instructor from Maui to assist with the class as well as showcase their communication equipment. 2) New supplies and equipment just arrived for our Project Lifesaver Program. We will be distributing tracking devices to other companies Island-wide and will provide training for them prior. 3) Monthly off-duty rescue training is still continuing to upkeep the skill level of our personnel. Documentation of these drill are imperative so we are addressing those who may not have participated in a drill or have not completed their documentation. 4) As the year is coming to an end, we will meet to discuss the effectiveness of the rescue drills as well as the Special Operations Battalion Chief’s role during extended incidents. Ocean Safety: 1) Distributed the Drug and Alcohol Policy to our Water Safety Officer personnel with implementation to begin on January 1, 2015. 2) We are continuing to pursue the implementation of our Rescue Water Craft Program. We have identified the requirements in order to participate in the initial training. A supplemental agreement and consultation letter will be sent out soon to HGEA prior to implementation of these requirements. The tentative start date of this training is anticipated to begin in February 2015. 3) We have replaced the lifeguard tower at Honoli‘i utilizing a helicopter from Maui. We are awaiting the replacement of the last tower at Carlsmith. There is one more tower that we will replace in West Hawai‘i. That tower is the south tower at Kahalu‘u. 4) We hired 8 new Water Safety Officers (6 in East Hawai‘i, 2 in West Hawai‘i) on December 16, 2014 to fill vacant positions as well as the positions that was created with the new Rescue Water Craft program. They are currently in training and are anticipated to begin working at the towers in January 2015. V. Support Services Division TRAINING BUREAU: 1) The 43rd Fire Fighter Recruit class has completed the Fire Fighter portion of their training. The 7 EMS licensed personnel will be going out to various Medic units to start their evaluation period (10-24 hour shifts). The rest of the class will be starting EMT class on January 5, 2015 for approximately 10 weeks. 2) The Training Bureau proposed for and received approval to move ahead with the 4 hour National Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Responder Training course. The course will be delivered to Battalion Chiefs, Company Officers and Paramedic personnel in the first wave, and potentially all other personnel as funding allows. Training will commence in February 2015. 3) AFG for Driving Simulators status: The bid specifications have been completed and submitted to Melanio for final review prior to posting request for bids. 4) The IAFF Fire Ground Survival Program continues to provide training to our Operations personnel. They have trained 130 personnel thus far. 5) Our department held another offering of Dive Rescue Specialist Training. A total of 20 personnel were trained in the months of November and December 2014. VOLUNTEER TRAINING: 1) Delivery of oil/filters to volunteer stations for annual maintenance. 2) Delivery of brush boots to all volunteer stations. 3) Met with sales representative for Lion Company to do sizing of turnouts December 10-12, 2014. 4) Driver training (closed course/pre-trip) audit for 19A. 5) Staff meeting on December 9, 2014. EMS BUREAU: 1) Attended the annual HEMSIS Conference December 2 – 5, 2014 in Maui. The focus of the conference was improving cardiac arrest survival rates and pre- hospital High Performance (HP) CPR. HP CPR has been embraced by our Bureau and is being rolled out to our entire department augmenting our Hands Only bystander CPR program. 2) Facilitated an interagency Aeromedical training with Hawai‘i Life Flight rotor aircraft, AMR, HFD, and Community Association partners in the South Puna district in lieu of the impending lava flow. The interagency training focused on interagency communication, safety, and aircraft orientation. More training will be scheduled in the near future. 3) EMS Orientation and EMT prep classes were held for the 43rd Fire Recruit Class December 22, 2014 – January 2, 2015 in preparation of EMT Class. Fifteen Fire Recruit personnel entered EMT Training at Kapi‘olani Community College on January 5, 2015. Seven state licensed personnel from the 43rd Class have entered the EMS orientation and evaluation phase training at various medic stations around the island. 4) Our second series of ambulances remounts was inspected, delivered and received on island. The realized cost savings comparatively to brand new ambulances were close to $75,000 each. These remounts will be sent back to the Kawailani and Kailua Stations. PREVENTION BUREAU: 1) Fire Prevention Bureau had 5 fire investigations in December and Arson K9 Kaimi was used at 2. One of the fires involved a fatality in which the cause appears to be candles. 2) Fire Prevention Bureau distributed thank you letters to the numerous businesses that donated prizes for Fire Prevention Week. 3) Fire Prevention Bureau conducted numerous fireworks related inspections in preparation for Fireworks sales for the New Year. 4) Fire Prevention Bureau conducted four Fireworks display inspections to ensure safety of the setup up and operation and to also account for fireworks counts. 5) Fire Prevention Bureau continuing with maintenance inspections of businesses Island-wide. AUXILLIARY SERVICES Dispatch: 1) New monitor installed for the video monitoring system. 2) Continue to work with Department of Information Technology (IT) regarding document conversion (Access). 3) Working with IT and Scott from Hawai‘i Police Department IT – request on CAD units. 4) Proposed Mapflex 5.1 installation and training dates. 5) Fire Radio Dispatcher I continuing hands-on training, call taking and dispatching. Maintenance Shop: 1) Mechanic Shop computer continue to have connectivity issues. 2) Re-roofing in progress; request for mezzanine to increase storage space. Warehouse: 1) December 10-12, 2014 – Island-wide PPE sizing with four personnel from LION Products. 2) Re-roofing in progress for Dispatch and Warehouse. 3) Ongoing repair request and disposal of decommissioned supplies and equipment. VI. New Projects/Business VII. Employee/Public Relations 1) Battalion Chief Lance Uchida awarded the County of Hawai‘i Supervisor of the Year award for 2014.