LIHU‘E — A total of 12 new firefighter recruits will join the workforce after successfully completing seven months of training with the Kaua‘i Fire Department.
The department held a graduation ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Lihue Civic Center’s Mo‘ikeha courtyard to welcome the new graduates.
The new firefighters will be working on Kaua‘i, but they have been divided between the county, state and federal levels.
Of that total, seven will be working with the Kaua‘i Fire Department, four will be working with the state of Hawai‘i’s Lihu‘e Airport Rescue and Firefighting Unit, and one new recruit will be working with the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, a U.S. naval facility in Kekaha.
Kyle Callaway, Kealiimalu Kaawa, Phillip Kim, Dane Kua, Daniel Lagmay, Kaleo Mauricio and Jarred Perry were all named as new members joining the Kaua‘i Fire Department, according to county spokesperson Alden Alayvilla.
The remaining five recruits, set to work at the state or federal levels, are Brett Komatsu, Rhylen Yadao-Purisima, Texas Mascaro-Owen, Jonah Maples and Keoni Ana.
This marks the first time that the county, state and federal governments have partnered to train new firefighters under the same umbrella and recruitment class, according to Alayvilla. He noted that the recruits’ respective agencies paid for their equipment and training hours, but they all went through the same seven-month training program.
Kaua‘i Fire Chief Michael Gibson thanked the families of the graduating class for supporting them throughout the training period.
“We want to especially thank their families and friends, as all of you have also gone through these past seven months of mentally demanding and challenging periods of time supporting the recruits and ensuring their success by allowing them the time to study during the evenings, and to physically recover over the weekends,” said Gibson in a statement.
“To our newest firefighters … Please continue to fully engage and continue to develop and enhance your abilities and lifelong learning. Your professional and personal development never ends,” he added.
Gibson’s welcoming of 12 new firefighters on the island follows plans for the Kaua‘i Fire Department to request additional funding in the county’s upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year budget.
Late last month, Gibson told The Garden Island that his department would use the additional funding to implement a “wildfire prevention program mitigation” to add additional resources in light of the August wildfire that tore through Maui’s historic Lahaina town and caused at least 99 deaths.
He stated that the department plans on requesting two additional water tenders, estimated to cost roughly $600,000 each.
“That’s an example of a type of resource we’re going to be asking for in fiscal year 2024-2025,” he said.
Gibson noted the Kaua‘i Fire Department currently has eight fire stations, each equipped with a fire truck and a brush truck that goes on off-road areas. On the whole island, there’s one water tender, he said, which is stationed in Lihu‘e.
The county’s fire engines carry 750 gallons of water, compared to the water tender, which can carry 2,000 gallons, according to Gibson. A water tender’s main purpose is to transport as much water as possible to the scene of a fire.
Gibson said adding two more water tenders would give the department a quicker response time, especially in more remote areas of the island.
He declined to state exactly how much more the Kaua‘i Fire Department is seeking compared with last year’s total budget of $41,028,963.
“It would be too early to predict or assume, but, we all know it’s important. So I don’t want to jinx it and be assumptive that it’s going to be a yes before we get there,” he said.
Gibson says the increase in funding is needed to take more preventative fire measures on Kaua‘i. His main priority is being able to detect fires early before they have a chance to spread.
“Whether it be in somebody’s house or in a large field … The earlier we know, the better effect we can have on it when we get there,” he said. “It’s the early detection and having enough resources that are available, notified and ready to respond when we get the notification.”
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Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-652-0638 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.
