Kaua‘i Fire Department Chief Robert Westerman and Mayor Bryan Baptiste recognized promotions and new hires within the department during a ceremony at the Civic Center yesterday. Sueo Higa, Dean Lake and Reid Tanita were the newly promoted fire captains, pinned
Kaua‘i Fire Department Chief Robert Westerman and Mayor Bryan Baptiste recognized promotions and new hires within the department during a ceremony at the Civic Center yesterday.
Sueo Higa, Dean Lake and Reid Tanita were the newly promoted fire captains, pinned with new badges.
Higa, who was born in France and grew up in O‘ahu, was originally a firefighter with the Honolulu Fire Department and has been a firefighter for the past 21 years.
Lake graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1976 and has been with the KFD for the past 13 years.
A gradate of Waimea High School, Tanita has been with the KFD for the past 10 years. Tanita thanked Chief Westerman and the KFD for the opportunity and their support.
Next to be pinned were the fire apparatus operators Kalani Abreu, Mark Texeira and Jeffrey Weiss.
Abreu has been part of the KFD for almost nine years, while Weiss has been with the department for 13 years.
Born and raised on Kaua‘i, Texeira worked at the Pacific Missile Range Facility after serving in the U.S. Navy.
“He has worked for the Kaua‘i Fire Department for the past 17 years and is currently working on completing his Fire Science degree from Honolulu Community College,” Westerman said.
Water Safety Officers were also promoted yesterday. Kalani Vierra was recently promoted as Water Safety Supervising Officer and Randall Ortiz was promoted as Water Safety Officer III.
Vierra has been a water safety officer for the past 10 years. He is also a board member of the State Task Force on Ocean Safety and the vice president of the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association.
Born and raised on Kaua‘i, Ortiz has been a water safety officer nearly 18 years. Ortiz is currently assigned to supervise the Southwest District for the Ocean Safety Bureau.
Also acknowledged yesterday were newly hired water safety officers Cadin Crane, Chad Listman, Chad Medeiros and Eric Pereza.
“Chad (Listman) was a water safety officer before transferring to the Kaua‘i Police Department,” Westerman said. “He has decided to return to the Ocean Safety Bureau and is a great asset to the service.”
Newly hired lifeguards recognized yesterday were Kalama Lingaton and Anthony Parraga Jr.
Parraga said he is very honored to be a part of the Ocean Safety Bureau serving the residents and visitors of Kaua‘i.
“I encourage you to be good role models, especially for the kids,” Baptiste said. “Mahalo and have a great career.”
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
