LIHU‘E — Twenty-four members of the Kaua‘i Fire Department were honored with promotions during a pinning ceremony on Friday at the Mo‘ikeha Building. The recent blessing and dedication of the Kaiakea Fire Station — the latest addition to the county’s
LIHU‘E — Twenty-four members of the Kaua‘i Fire Department were honored with promotions during a pinning ceremony on Friday at the Mo‘ikeha Building.
The recent blessing and dedication of the Kaiakea Fire Station — the latest addition to the county’s network around the island — as well as vacancies within the department necessitated the promotions, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said.
“It’s a sign of great things happening and we want to reward these men for all the great work they do,” he said. “They work hard to keep the expertise level beyond what is expected of them.”
Of the two dozen honored firefighters, 11 were promoted to Fire Fighter II rank. Kaua‘i Fire Chief Robert Westerman noted that Kaiakea Fire Station will be a Hazmat station and the large number of Fire Fighter II promotions were necessary because these firefighters are also Hazmat qualified.
Ronald Bush, Aaron Hawthorne, Adam Hussey, Jeremie Makepa, Roger Mills III, Kamuela Micah Mokuahi, Kevin Kaipo Perry, Kalehiamaikalani ‘Lehia’ Pomroy, Kalani Telles, Timothy Terrazas and Ryan Washburn were promoted to Fire Fighter II.
The Fire Fighter II ranks were joined by five Fire Fighter III promotions including Joseph ‘Joey’ Kealii Durocher, Ehren Edwards, Curtis Langstaff, Chauncey Pa, Kellen Ponce and Shawn Thompson.
Robert Craddick, a KFD fire inspector since 2006, was promoted to Fire Prevention Inspector II.
Albert Kaui Jr., a Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama graduate, has been with the Kaua‘i Fire Department since 1986. He was promoted to battalion fire chief after serving two years as captain in the training bureau and the past eight years as captain on Rescue 3.
Kalani Abreu, part of the four-man delegation honored Wednesday by the Kaua‘i County Council for being a recipient of the international Benjamin Franklin award for valor, was named one of five promoted to fire captain.
Carvalho said his office will be honoring the four recipients at a later date. Abreu is joined by Dustin Alfiler, Daryl Date, Gary Hudson and Solomon Kanoho.
Solomon Kanoho’s wife Sue, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, supplemented the promotions with a presentation on behalf of KVB — a $2,000 check for the Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau in honor of National Tourism Cares Day.
“I wanted to make sure we had this covered for our guys who do so much for our visitors,” she said.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
