Firefighter’s plight

LIHUE — Being a firefighter is a demanding job.

For Karl Teves, getting to the fire station can be just as demanding.

The Kalaheo man commutes to the Lihue Airport, and from there, catches a plane to Oahu. Same thing getting back home: Ride to the airport, flight, commute home. It’s what he’s been doing for five years.

He is hoping, soon, he can say no more.

“I love my son deeply and I just want to be working on the same island as him,” Teves said. “If anything happened to him or he needs me, I want to be here and not 100 miles away on Oahu.”

Teves is seeking to transfer back to Kauai, where he worked for a decade before taking the job on Oahu.

So far, much to his dismay, it hasn’t happened. Teves said it’s frustrating because since his request to return to fight fires on the Garden Isle, KFD has hired about 10 recruits. There are also two current firefighter openings.

“I’m highly trained and a veteran, so I’ve been to a vast variety of alarms,” he said. “The county, therefore, wouldn’t need to spend any money on me for training.”

About five years ago, the Lihue firefighter and his wife were living on Kauai and planned to move to Oahu to be near his family. But by the time his transfer went through, the two had separated and she was eight months pregnant.

Teves went on to Oahu and she remained on Kauai to give birth to Ethan, the couple’s only child. The couple divides their time with Ethan, who suffers from Solos syndrome, a rare disorder that results health and developmental problems.

As a part-time flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines, Teves waits for standby seats to live at his new Kalaheo home when his duty rotation is over and he has a few days off.

For every 24-shift at HFD, he spends about five hours commuting. The standby flights for Hawaiian Air employees are as available, and there are numerous times when there was not a seat or the flight was delayed for mechanical problems and he must use a sick day.

“So, I have been commuting between Kauai and Oahu ever since because I want to be a good father and don’t like being away from him,” Teves said.

Teves said building a home on Kauai should send a signal that he is setting roots here where he wants to be full time.

“I own a house in Kalaheo, so I’m firmly rooted on Kauai and have no desires to live anywhere else,” he said.

The county Department of Personnel Services acknowledged Teves’ request to be placed on the re-employment list for a Fire Fighter I position in a letter on Aug. 23, 2011.

Teves was informed by KFD Chief Robert Westerman, and the Department of Personnel Services, when he left that as a civil service employee who resigned in good standing, he may request to be added to a re-employment list within three years.

The letter states that he “resigned in good standing on Sept. 27, 2009, and is therefore eligible to have his name placed on the appropriate eligibility list” for a transfer back if the request was made within three years.

After a year and a half, Teves completed the re-employment request form when he completed his HFD probationary period. It was a way of ensuring good standing with both departments to avoid complicating a transfer request.

Teves said the department was receptive to the request but that Westerman wanted to place him in recruit training for four months, and one year of probationary status. The letter from Personnel Services specifically said that he could return to his original rank of Firefighter I, Tevis said.

To work full time in training status would mean having to work weekends as a flight attendant and would limit time with his son to a few hours a day, he said. Recruit status would create a financial hardship, he added.

He also believed it would also be unnecessary since he attended both the KFD and HFD recruit training, and with his combine 14.5 years of experience at both departments.

The Kauai County Fire Commission responded with a March 3 letter that the commission was unable to assist with a reinstatement request. County Charter and Fire Commission rules prohibit any interference with the fire chief in administrative matters of the department.

“The county is unable to comment or discuss specific personnel issues at this time as it relates to this request,” said spokeswoman Sarah Blane.

Teves said the firefighters’ union was sympathetic but could not interfere in what is essentially a decision of the fire chief. His son’s doctors provided letters to support having Teves’ goal to have more time with him.

“I am just trying to be a good dad,” he said.