JEFF MURRAY – Retiring Fire Chief – 2018

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Jason with JEFF MURRAY, Maui Fire Chief – retiring the end of the month; we celebrate his long and distinguished career and the outstanding contributions he has given and continues to give to all of us! Join In – good insights and path to a safe future! 6-25-2018

Summary & Transcript

[00:02 → 02:23]       
Introduction and Show Purpose

• The Neutral Zone podcast, hosted by Jason Schwartz, aims to provide a platform for open, respectful conversations on various topics without judgment or hostility typical on social media.
• The show is supported by local sponsors such as Cash for Gold, Kama’aina Loan, Maui Miracle Org, and H Stanley Jut.
• The episode dated June 25th features Jeff Murray, Maui County Fire Chief, as the guest.

• [02:23 → 07:14]
  Guest Introduction and Background
• Jeff Murray is the Maui County Fire Chief with over 29 years in the Maui Fire Department and over 10 years as chief.
• Maui experiences a range of fires including monthly home fires (residential fires) and seasonal wildland/brush fires.
• Home fires typically involve electrical issues such as faulty devices or overloaded extension cords causing heating and ignition.
• Jeff’s firefighting career began as a childhood dream; he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at 17 and served as a firefighter there before returning to Maui.
• As fire chief, he oversees the entire department, including ocean safety, with nearly 390 employees covering Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and occasional response to Kīlauea lava flows on the Big Island.
• The role involves extensive planning, resource management, and ensuring community service needs are met efficiently.

• [07:14 → 14:44]
  Fire Department Operations, Budget, and Challenges
• Firefighting requires constant training due to changes in home construction and fire behavior; modern homes burn hotter and faster than older ones.
• Jeff emphasizes the importance of proactive budgeting and resource acquisition to avoid “playing catch-up,” a common issue in Hawaii’s government projects.
• Firefighting equipment and personnel needs are often cut during budget allocation processes despite their critical importance.
• The Fire Department follows national best practices and standards, specifically the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes developed from investigations of firefighter fatalities to improve safety and effectiveness.
• Training and certification have been a major focus in the last decade to enhance readiness and confidence.
• Fire equipment must be maintained meticulously, and trucks require replacement as wear and tear can compromise readiness. Downtime negatively impacts the department’s ability to respond.

• [14:44 → 20:32]
  Public Interaction and Fire Prevention
• At fire scenes, the public can assist by providing critical information (e.g., if someone is trapped or known hazards like propane tanks) and by staying out of the way to allow firefighters space to operate.
• The department responds to emergencies beyond fires, including rescues and medical calls.
• Coordination with other agencies like police, emergency management, and FEMA is essential during large incidents, such as the Big Island volcanic eruptions.
• Public education programs exist, including fire safety curricula distributed to all K-2 students and fire extinguisher training to help prevent fires.
• The department collaborates with utilities and landowners to manage vegetation near power lines, reducing wildfire risk and infrastructure damage.

• [20:32 → 25:29]
  Firefighter Work Schedule and Recruitment
• Firefighters typically work 24-hour shifts with days off in between, following a rotating schedule.
• The department attracts many candidates—approximately 15 to 20 applicants every two years—though the job demands more than just a desire to work; it requires commitment and resilience.
• Candidates must undergo rigorous training covering over 22 disciplines annually, reflecting the evolving nature of fire and rescue work.
• Firefighters must be lifelong learners, adapting to new threats and technologies.

• [25:29 → 40:50]
  Interview Segment: Chief Murray’s Career and Department Culture
• Jeff Murray reflects on his varied roles within the department, highlighting rescue captain as a favorite due to the specialized equipment like boats and jet skis.
• The department covers ocean rescue responsibilities extending several miles offshore.
• Maui Fire Department is inclusive and integrated, with women firefighters performing equally alongside men.
• The department has multiple stations on Molokai and handles fire safety inspections and water supply logistics for developments, collaborating early in permitting processes to ensure safety compliance.
• Transparency and community involvement are critical values; Jeff advocates for early public engagement in development planning.
• He expresses a desire for better legislative engagement beyond budget season to understand and support the department’s needs.
• Accreditation is a goal for the department to align fully with national standards, improving accountability, planning, and community trust.

• [40:50 → 49:58]
  Community Relationships and Interagency Cooperation
• Firefighters and police officers work closely, often responding together to emergencies and supporting each other professionally.
• Arson investigations are conducted jointly with police and sometimes federal agencies when appropriate.
• The department serves all community members, including visitors, without discrimination.
• EMS transport is contracted separately, but firefighters perform initial medical assessments and assist at emergency scenes.
• The relationship with local energy companies, such as the one on Lanai, is cooperative to ensure fire safety and response.
• Community trust and support are vital for the department’s success; public advocacy toward elected officials is encouraged to maintain or increase funding and resources.

• [49:58 → 51:13]
  Chief Murray’s Closing Remarks and Appreciation
• After over 34 years in military and county firefighting, Jeff expresses deep gratitude to his department, family, and community for their support.
• He emphasizes the pride, professionalism, and compassion of the department members.
• Serving the public has been an honor and a lifelong calling, and he will miss the role after his upcoming retirement.

• [51:13 → 54:59]
  Additional Program Notes and Community Updates
• The show includes a “Smart Minute” segment highlighting concerns about smart meters causing increased electricity bills and potential fire hazards, referencing lawsuits and FBI warnings regarding hacking risks.
• A musical interlude features a performance from Molokai artist Hilo Nose.
• Fundraising events for the Big Island community are announced, featuring food, music, and family activities.

1. 1. 1. Summary Table: Maui Fire Department Overview

Aspect	Details
Chief	Jeff Murray (29+ years in department, 10+ as chief)
Coverage Area	Maui, Molokai, Lanai, occasional Big Island lava flow response
Personnel	Approximately 390 employees
Fire Types	Residential home fires (~monthly), wildland/brush fires (seasonal)
Department Divisions	Operations, Administration, Fire Prevention, Ocean Safety
Training	Annual training in 22+ disciplines, emphasis on certification and national best practices
Public Education	Fire safety booklets to K-2 students, extinguisher training, community outreach
Equipment Maintenance	High priority; replacement schedules planned but often constrained by budget
Emergency Cooperation	Works closely with police, EMS, emergency management, FEMA, and federal agencies
Community Interaction	Encourages public to provide hazard info, stay clear during emergencies, and support funding
Recruitment	15-20 applicants every two years, rigorous selection and training process
Future Goals	Pursuit of department accreditation for national standards alignment

Key Insights and Conclusions

• Firefighting in Maui County is a complex, multi-island operation requiring careful planning, coordination, and constant adaptation to evolving fire risks and community needs.
• Budget constraints remain a critical challenge, often limiting the department’s ability to acquire needed equipment and personnel despite clear safety and operational justifications.
• Training and certification advancements have significantly improved firefighter readiness and safety in the past decade, aligning with national standards and best practices.
• Public education and early involvement in development planning are essential to fire prevention and safety.
• Interagency cooperation, especially between fire and police, ensures comprehensive emergency response and community protection.
• Chief Murray’s leadership is marked by a strong community focus, transparency, and a passion for service, emphasizing the importance of public trust and legislative support for sustaining fire department effectiveness.
• The department’s goal for accreditation reflects a commitment to continuous improvement and accountability on par with other essential public services.

1. 1. 1. Not Specified / Uncertain

• Specific budget figures and detailed statistics on fire incidents or response times were not specified.
• The exact accreditation body or timeline for pursuing accreditation was not detailed.
• Details about the size and structure of the fire department on Lanai and Molokai beyond station counts are limited.
• Information about future leadership or succession planning post-Chief Murray was not provided..

This comprehensive summary captures the core content of the interview with Fire Chief Jeff Murray, highlighting operational insights, challenges, community roles, and future goals of Maui County’s Fire Department as presented in the source transcript.

1. 1. 2. Transcript

00:02

[Music] [Music] man sold away [Music] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] welcome to the neutral zone I’m your host Jason Schwartz today is June 25th the monday and i have a great guest here that you’re gonna have your opportunity to meet here in a minute the neutral zone was created so we could talk about all kinds of things and neutral doesn’t mean that we don’t have ideas and feelings behind things it means we’re gonna put in the clutch and we’re gonna talk without running each

01:42

other over and welts slashing each other like on facebook and other social media we’re gonna talk about all kinds of things and today we have a terrific guest we are very happy to have a couple of sponsors already in our early life we have cash for gold combine alone and we have the Maui miracle org and we have a H Stanley jut calm we’re a new age here you know and websites come up and all kinds of stuff and we have people that care about our community and want to give a place for open voice and talking

02:23

without judgement my guest today is Jeff Murray now how many out there were on face book life by the way I’m how many of you guys know who Jeff Murray is not Bill Murray although he’s very funny Jeff Murray is our fire chief Jeff welcome to our show hello Jason good morning okay I think we’re good on volume you know when we walked in I thought we had a celebrity I think because the whole place erupted in song Jeff how long have you been in the fire department here in Maui well I’ve been

03:03

on Maui Fire Department over 29 years 29 years and you’ve been the chief for a little over ten years now well yeah well you know I when I think of fire department happily I would say I don’t see a lot of fires and that might be because you guys know and do your thing really efficiently now there are a lot of fires in Maui County oh yeah series and it’s dependent we got home fires once a month or so and then we also have vegetation or brush fires that are people know are wildland fires we have a

03:40

lot of those throughout the year and it’s usually seasonal for that as a whole pretty busy well I what is a home fire me that means someone did something in the house or a house did something to itself sometimes a little of both it’s a residential fire so we’ll consider a home fire like a residential fire as opposed to a commercial fire which would be a business or something like that or a vehicle fire and there’s all kinds of categories well you know yeah I don’t remember the year maybe you will I was

04:15

living in Maui meadows with my lady friend there you know and suddenly I heard a scream from her and right down below as our friend Lili and arrows and and Alex and suddenly fire happened in Maui meadows and you guys responded quickly and I also found that it seemed like there were an army of people that I have never ever seen anywhere you know we all stay in our little boxes by ourselves a lot they came from everywhere well once we’re summoned we respond appropriately you know based on the

04:50

needs what the call comes in and what our first commanders see on scene and what resources they’ll need so very important to have us around in nearby well you know when I saw that happen I thought a few things I later understood it was an electrical fire which means what a wire house should be a wire or it’s normally not the wiring of a home normally it’s usually a device that’s plugged into the wall that may have inadvertently done something that it shouldn’t have or you have you have a

05:23

kink extension cord the like that start fires because it’s it gets heated up by the electricity is that something that people need to be conscious of absolutely you know keeping your house tidy and making sure you don’t overload your electrical boxes or your outlets or anything or even the devices you know move it to another area if need be because everything has a limit and once it heats up you know anything can fail so I say well how did you get into this fire business it was a dream of mine as a young child to become

06:03

a firefighter and serve our community did you have heroes here on Maui and that a lot of people I grew up around there were firefighters and you know they were always there when things wasn’t as good as it should be and I admired that and what I did when I was 17 I enlisted in the United States Air Force and I became a fireman you know a firefighter within the United States Air Force and learned a ton you know and all I wanted to do is bring that information back home and share that with our people

06:36

in our department so I was able to do that what do you do as fire chief well as the chief is that different than a captain right after the yes captains are at each station yes and they run each crew so captains we we have operations captains we have administrative captains so each captain has their role and duties and responsibilities and and we have a set of chiefs as well but the fire chief specifically oversees the whole department so you know we run our Fire Department as well as ocean safety

07:14

so we got just under 390 employees so and that encompasses the three islands right Maui Molokai and lanai and we also do response to coal lava if need be so there’s a lot of resources and logistics that have to get done and then there’s also a lot of planning right so a lot of planning goes into for seeing what our needs are for our department so that we can serve the community appropriately well you know well I always think that if there’s one thing that if I were in government that

07:50

I would be sure to always fund it would be fire property is so significant have you over the years I mean I don’t know how long you’ve been doing this broad budgeting process but when I think of budget I would think that you would be a rock-solid will always gonna fund do you have a lot of needs that keep increasing other things changing and the firefighting industry always have needs one of the things that we try to do throughout my tenure is to anticipate the needs and get it ahead of time so

08:25

you’re not playing catch-up right so one of the things that we feel in government in in the state of Hawaii as a whole is there we’re playing catch-up all the time you know look at the rail that’s an issue that could have been dealt with 45 years ago but we’re here at this juncture now and everybody has an opinion but our thought process is always looking at how do we provide the service needed with appropriate equipment and along with all of those things which people don’t really think

08:56

about is the training that goes with that so our department members have to train constantly because our world is changing you know the homes of nineteen seventy two are completely different than the homes of 2018 you know the items that are in there burn a lot hotter and quicker the homes are built slightly different they’re a little bit more enclosed than they used to be a lot of air conditioning keeping out the dust and what-have-you those things are impacts on how we are able to save people or at least leave your

09:29

property so those those things are scientifically so over time we look at the trends and see how things are going and we plan accordingly and that goes for every aspect of our department Wow well you know I when I think of firefighting I you know maybe I’m watching many comic books but you guys have a very dangerous job at times yes and well we’re very fortunate to have people that put their life on the line you know police do it ever happening yeah police through it every day every day let’s not

10:00

forget about them because they are unbelievable but I imagine that you’re a very important part when you go for out to a fire are there any procedures I’m always wondering how the public can interact with people like you and where where can they help make it easier for you and like at a scene of a fire or things like that I’ve seen of a fire one of the main things is if they know that a life may be in danger that having a proprietary helpful maybe from a neighbor or someone who just saw

10:38

somebody drive home and now something happened that kind of information is really really important immediately and also to kind of just stay slightly out of the way so that you know our equipment is a lot larger than most other equipment so we need that space also like everything we take off of the truck that is prepared to deal with a home fire or commercial fire it that you know they need room to work with that so and just you know kind of staying out of the way and guiding us through certain

11:10

things and if they know of certain hazards to let us know like hey my neighbor has a large propane tank or you know of things of that sort it’s extremely helpful to us have you had that kind of thing happen or wive exploding propane tanks we’ve had that yes Wow goodness so um I um um I’m all over the map here I keep thinking and I hear in the news Big Island has a problem with a volcano is that a kind of a thing that Fire Department there would handle absolutely they handle um a lot of the

11:46

operations of course they have coordinated efforts with a lot of different departments and a lot of jurisdictions from outside of the Big Island sure we helped on three major occasions since May 4th sending people over to help with incident management of that specific eruption and just to give their people some rest so we have a trained team it’s called all hazards incident management team and we’re a level-3 so we’re able to go in and help out other departments we did in Hawaii or on the mainland or what have

12:21

you and that’s how we worked on getting all of our certifications to work within that process and that’s a federal process so we’re up to par with that so when I see Dee mad at the airport people taking care of emergencies are you part of that are you part of anything going on with fire yes a lot of times those situations they’ll summons us as well and that team could also help on a management side and also our personnel to respond to what the needs are because anytime another entity comes in whether

12:52

it’s a state entity or a federal entity like FEMA for example yeah there’s always local emergency responders that they’re working with so it’ll be either Emergency Management Police Department fire department all of those different things will work in unison together and then up and take their assistance yes I see anything as you’ve been in the department that you think could be improved but you’re not able to get resources do you ever run into that oh absolutely we run into that every year

13:27

you do yes we do so you know the annual budgets that the mayor puts together sure it has to be done by the department first and then it goes through that process with the mayor and then there’ll be discussion about the needs and then it also moves to the council which is the last section of that and a lot of times a lot of our needs are scrapped during that process I’m hard to believe here your needs I imagine they’re either equipment or personnel right yes Bota they decide that council level that

14:10

we don’t need another fire hose or another truck or more people that the kind of decisions they’re making it’s some of them yeah absolutely how can they feel more knowledgeable than you who’s by example who spent years you know I mean you’re not doing it out of the you know for any kind of self thing this is for our community I can’t imagine that that happens it happens quite a bit um and I think it’s just the timeliness of the process it takes a while and a lot of our things

14:44

you know even if it’s P yeah it’s costly so people look at that and say hey I don’t see the worth of it but the worth of that is the having a trained certified firefighter coming to your rescue per se yeah is extremely important because it it’s it’s our department moving in the direction of what is the national best practice and how that happens is through death so firefighters die doing their job and then they do an investigation they go through all of these processes and then they find out

15:24

what is good and what is bad and how you should operate and that’s what we look at it’s called like the National Fire Protection Association it’s it’s a code that is set forth to everybody in the United States and it’s up to you for you to use right and we try to go by all of the best practices because we don’t want that happening here if you want something very expensive that you get no gain out of try to lose a life and in doing their job and what we’re trying to do is avoid all of that great so the

15:54

emphasis in the last ten years has been about training and our certification and our ability to be confident and and in doing our job which is super important because we’re related to everybody oh yeah right so it’s not just we show up in a nice pretty truck that kind of does this that has been maintained it’s been taken care of it’s been practiced on it’s a piece of equipment that needs to get to you when it needs to get to you so it’s extremely important that all of that

16:27

stays in place I think of it like insurance absolutely I’ve also used that analogy a few times then that didn’t go over very well but I tried to keep it simple I mean when you do you have to present to the council you’re part of the but you do yes and again if you’re on council I hope you’re listening and if you’re not on council I hope you’re listening what kind of questions do they ask of you that could somehow change them from saying yes well they want to know if certain things are

17:03

a compliance issue you know like CR turn off gear several years back we had we had a lengthy discussion about our turn up gear and why it does it have a shelf life because when it’s put together by our manufacturer they can only guarantee so much that it can go through this and it’s important to keep them our firefighters safe within that equipment and it’s usable and it fits the criteria of moving forward right so if they enter a building they know with themselves that it’s safe so that’s an example of

17:40

and everything we do is either personnel or equipment there’s really nothing else you know right so anyway I I hope that if you’re on counsel on your house god forbid goes up in flames somehow that you’ve made sure you’ve had the right equipment there to help you and I think that I’m amazed when I hear stuff like that so one of the things too is you know people don’t understand that our trucks they do get old yeah you know wear and tear ends up being extremely costly and when you have a downtime that

18:18

that works against you so if the trucks sitting being repaired or waiting for parts to be repaired that’s that vehicle is not ready for you which you know people don’t understand too is they see it it’s very nice because we take care of it yeah that’s one of the things you know that fire fire departments do across the nation is you know very much here too is that we take pride in our equipment because it needs to be ready every second of the day and that’s the reason why it looks

18:47

the way it does and we hope we never see you leave the fire station personally right I mean that’s why I call it insurance I don’t particularly when you’re showing up there is something wrong definitely and you’re there and I need our champions to have a weapon you know it’s like you remember the Godfather when Sonny goes into the pieces when my brother goes into the bathroom to get a gun I want him to have a gun when he comes out same here I want you to have the equipment you need I hope that the

19:18

public will rally behind our fire department I think the public you know but there’s they only hear it when a need goes on but we need it all the time and one of the things is to provide a replacement schedule that you know about in advance right that’s gonna happen all the time and just earmark that funding for that and then things change and and people also need to know that each piece of equipment goes through a code review so when vehicles change items we have to upgrade those things it’s not like we we

19:54

want to do it but we have to do it we should do it because it’s it’s necessary forward right so you’ve been doing this a long time when you don’t have a fire going on I’m sure you maintain programs like you talked about the brush and I mean I always see like a long electric lines you see trees around them and I’m thinking this is like though is that something for the electric company to do you guys the responsibility of the electric company as well as the land owner so they were probably in unison

20:32

most of the time to get those things taken care of especially prior to dry season you know it doesn’t make a difference and it also helps us protect that because if we lose a telephone pole it might not mean anything to you but it costs the utility company a lot of money right you know and labor to get that back up and running plus you have a possibility of losing your service all of those things are an integral part of making it happen well you know I I remember growing up and thinking that the fire guys had a

21:05

real good deal they work you have 24 hour shifts or 48 yeah we have 20 Congress shifts here right right so for example if a person had a shift work Monday Wednesday and Friday and then I would take care of their week and then they would have the go and they’ll switch so during that week they’d have the Tuesday and Thursday off Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday and come back on Wednesday Friday Sunday I see so they usually get in a day off between yes they do well and do you have programs in

21:39

the schools do you go out and educate people about different things to prevent fire yes we do we have a public education program within our fire prevention Bureau that they go out and meet we do a pamphlet a booklet that goes out to all k25 in all of our schools so that’s like thirty thirteen thousand five hundred of those go out annually and then we also do specific types of training whether it be fire extinguisher training or what have you that’s a huge part of us getting into the community and making a difference

22:13

for that one person hopefully you know well when I think of I can’t see aha I still got a couple minutes till our break do you have someone tell me a joke yesterday I don’t know if it’ll you guys listening maybe you know the answer what smokey the Bears middle name bear see someone said that now a smokey bear they took away the van yeah I think and the 50s there was something that you know somehow resonated through the kids because it made sense but years ago they stopped calling the bear he’s Smokey

22:56

Bear yeah oh I never knew that you mean that’s that shows I’m older because I remember the v”e for me was always dull so how do kids respond to this stuff about fire fighter do you find there others like you that want to come and walk in your shoes when they get on absolutely you know annually we we test anywhere from what every two years we test about 15 to 2,000 people and who want to have this job 15 to 2 and on other islands it’s even more so it’s a sought-after job but it’s not for

23:37

everybody you know it’s you got to be willing to give more than what you get it’s just one of those things and if you come in with that mindset you’ll do very well well you know it’s an interesting perception as public we really don’t get behind are you guys sort of like I want to say the seals the Navy SEALs that you guys are set for any kind of situation you can jump into a house and you need to go and you thought you were walking up those stairs but there are no stairs and sudden so you have all kinds of very

24:12

rigorous training I imagine yes we do yeah yes we do aye so how does someone go about becoming a candidate yeah I know they can just apply but there are things that you guys want of your candidate we want people that not to work right because you don’t come into the department and move straight to fire chief on your second day right everybody has to work to attain certain positions and you also have to have some education you know or or have the ability to retain information because we have a lot

24:50

of information we do over 22 disciplines within our department that we train on annually it is it’s ever-changing so you have to constantly read what’s happening today and see what other people are up against and see if that same threat is here in your community you know well we’re gonna take a break here in a few seconds let the station kak you let people know who sponsors are for the air and everything then we’re gonna come back thank you for being with us we’re here with Jeff Murray who is the fire chief

25:29

here in Maui County retiring at the end of the month congratulations thank you very much so we’re gonna let ikkaku excuse me kak you radio takeover right now i’m david pakman host of the david pakman show hurt Monday through Friday on kak u 88.5 FM our new time four o’clock analysis commentary interviews and more from a perspective not offered on corporate media not only news from the front lines of progressive issues but facts that are factual and information that is actually informing

26:16

the David Pakman show heard now at 4 p.m. on kak you the voice of maui funding for ke ke you the voice of maui is provided in part by eddie the guts gots to go in and just say that goes through and i don’t care what happens you know it aches and if i fall down [Music] located at 982 lower main street Wailuku for more information call 808 eight nine five two five six seven hey aku FM 88.5 Kokkola for big island kku 88.5 FM and ikkaku Maui community media in cooperation with a Latino connection are holding the fundraiser at

27:01

Heritage Hall on Baldwin Avenue Sunday July 1st to help our Big Island neighbors enjoy great food music games and a trampoline for the keiki from 3 to 10 p.m. at Heritage Hall 401 Baldwin Avenue in idea its Cocula for Big Island Sunday July 1st at Heritage Hall in pie-ya please cool little teapot short and stout here is my handle and here is my spout when I shout this is WWE Superstar Roman reigns it only takes a moment to make a moment take time to be a dad today visit fatherhood.gov brought to you by the US Department of

27:49

Health and Human Services in the Ad Council the neutral zone is brought to you by our kind donor cash-for-gold kama’aina loan at 52 and 98 North Market Street in Wailuku Maui two four two five five five five well I’m happy to be back here with Jeff Murray our fire chief here in Maui County Jeff you know I met you in a in a way that I was serving as a an usher at a Hawaiian hula group up country is that something that you do them well yeah my family otter my daughter is a dancer for that Hollow and it was a one of those

28:41

our holy key so it was really good next weekend we had a very nice time and I had the good fortune to be at the stage door and I was stationed there with this guy for a second I said this is a nice guy I was this guy and then someone came and saluted you I thought am I missing something but you’re the fire chief yeah when you go through is there a were you trying to what we were trying to is it something that you strived for were there any roles that you through the years that you especially liked in this

29:18

department with any things that oh I loved every role that I had um you know I’ve served in many positions within the department as a firefighter a rescue man and driver operator you know I drove the ladder the rescue truck fire engines I was a captain I was an administrative captain I was a lion captain so operations captain at paw heel and then and then a rescue captain before this gig as a fire chief and I love them all I would have to say my favorite was rescued only because that we had a

29:55

little more equipment than the rest of the the department has that were responsible for like boats jet skis in so it’s pretty exciting so rescue means just that it needs to go out and someone stuck in the middle of nowhere how’d that how does that come to you guys well by charter the moment of our department is mounting to ocean and and and a few miles out to the ocean is our jurisdiction I see so that’s that’s how we do it on in Island jurisdictions you know and we’re fortunate enough to have

30:31

that responsibility gonna stay I think politically correct Bobo there are women in your department as well as yes right absolutely yes and I imagine they have to be able to do everything as well as a man as they do yes as they do they are in their way let me tell you and you have a pretty integrated Department and in all kinds of ways race you don’t have any kind of issues going on no we don’t we all get along I mean you know we live with each other for 24 hours and and and our lives depend on each other so you

31:10

know that’s what I’m talking about when you want to get into a business like this you got to give more than you take yeah well not how long have you been how long have you been I think sometimes what are you talking about Maui Molokai lanai and Kohala v1 I think of Molokai think here we are in Kona Kukai I imagine you have to have other remote stations yes we do we actually have three there we have two fully manned stations one encounter Kukai and one in Holly hua and then we have a half man

31:47

station in Google out on the east end I see so water when I think of Fire Department I often think of water do you have different water supply than we use for say residential and commercial it’s all dependent majority of the time we’re using the same water and then if we’re in certain areas they might have private systems we’re all utilizing private systems you know for instance like a TNS when they were pretty active we utilized a lot of their resources so that’s a good example of

32:26

how that works you know community-driven for sure yeah does it ever get to be an issue where you’re depleting water supply needed for residential use does that ever come up not very often you know years back we had the collie Shopping Center fire yes we’re all folks got on fire we we utilized a lot of water during that time because we had multiple fire trucks that were at that scene trying to hold it together because we had high winds and we we had to summons the water department to do some

33:00

shutting off so that we could get what we needed those things happen and there’s plans in place in case they do so we’re always working together with other departments well it’s good to hear I always wondered because of the tremendous demand about water and the sensitivity about enough water when development is happening are you guys involved in that process yes we are our fire prevention Bureau we have inspectors we have plans reviewers that look over their whole development we’re

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in pretty early during the permitting process and sometimes before that so that we can help make adjustments ahead of time so it’s not costly for the for the developer and it’s also ahead of you know all the safety mechanisms are in place before the development happens okay you know and so I’m I’m thinking about all the people that are is my brain you’re going there are a lot of people that you know would like to know about developments before they have permits they’d like to know you know we

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the county for example has a County Community Plan but that doesn’t always mean that the development is going to be as per the plan somehow people step over those lines and then really late it’s late hour it seems or after someone has spent millions upon millions dollars suddenly the public is waking up to oh yeah we don’t want that development there and yet they’ve spent countless dollars in the development process already how do you know when a development is happening well they

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usually reach out to us to let us know and they want to get as much information as the developers in sell yes oh I see and then if if they don’t reach out to us the people in the building department catch on to something and say hey chief I think you guys should be aware of what’s happening okay and then you know we’ll talk starry and as far as um how the community sees it is it’s not always all the meetings that you need you know it’s I think more advertisements about certain things you know keeping the

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people in in the loop is always a great idea there right you know it’s better to bring them in early then bring them in late you know it’s just honor every so I agree I mean that’s probably the the greatest thing that I hope to see and whatever regimes are running this joint transparency absolutely I’m sure I can see in you that’s who and what you are you seem to be very open and upfront about everything anything’s any things that you’re not talking about that you can now you only

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have a few weeks left so if you want what do you seem like you would get along with everybody I can’t imagine anyone having any issues any things that you’d like to be a little better somehow or what you’d like to see structured somehow develop no I would like to see a lot more time and input with our legislators listening to what we are about not just that budget season but really reach out or open their doors to us majority of them will meet with us any given time there has been a few people

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that don’t want to meet with us for whatever reason but I think it’s extremely important for everybody to have that that opportunity to express what the needs are and because the bottom line the decisions that are made final decisions are for other people it’s not for me you know our our ability to do our job is everything it’s gonna make or break our success every single time so the better are we we are at doing our job and the tools that we have to do our job will always prevail in those situations

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because you know you talked about water you know ten years ago sometimes when we fought residential fires we used tons and tons or gallons and gallons of water to put it out because our ability to understand the process and actually know how to fight that fire exceptionally well was not done but we were able to do that now and see so that’s the investment that people don’t see in the training of that so our ability not only with the tools that we have but the ability for us to actually do it and know that we can do

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it so training in doing it is extremely important because the only other time you have that opportunity is when it’s real and that’s not the time to figure it out so we’ve come a long way and our department is poised to to serve these people very well you know one of the things that I really would like to see the department move along with is accreditation because that starts to look at the the national standards and how we operate and just to have some support moving in that direction because

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that was something that we tried to do in the last ten years but they didn’t have all the support and I think they need to have an open mind to that because it’s about you having a voice any person having a voice on how the process is done and what is what do we respond to and what do we want to put our money in and it also helps you plan for the stations that you need down the line because now you have all the data and statistics that you need to put it in the right place based on the hours of

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the day so the same I want people to embrace that because if you go to college you want to go to an accredited college and you want your doctor to have gone to accredited college yeah I mean why not us you know we’re an integral part of this community our Police Department probably is accredited and it helps us stay on track that’s you know well I really like your passion you know I can tell you like what you do and you like the people you’ll work with and you carry that attitude into everything is

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there anything that the public can do to be able to help support you or is it just expressing it here is enough can people say to their representatives hey next time something’s going on with Fire Department I’d like you to make sure you do that that’s important to us that would be really really lovely if you know the people and most people you know and like I want to see a high high majority of people really support what’s going on very few feel different or indifferent but they’re not out all the

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meetings that that are take up time during the day when everybody’s working and they’re not able to see all of those different things whether it’s on this station or another station but they just they need to trust that we’re doing what what is what is right by them you know which is our kuleana that’s that’s what we’re raised doing here and for me and I know a lot of people in our department take it the same way this is this is a the real deal you know we our Police

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Department does the same thing and they need to understand that we’re there for them and that we’re striving to do to do as best as we can you know and just that type of support would be really great I appreciate it well I think that’s one of the good reasons we had you on here I wanted to share what you’re doing and who you are and what you’re doing with the public because we all need support and whatever we’re doing absolutely you know we’re one big team so are you gonna be dancing hula you’re

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gonna be joining the troop or you’re not through yet not at this time but but if time in a few years shows that I’ll be dancing hula then that’ll be it did you grow up with hula yes I did my family they’re into music and hula and you know mostly family stuff yeah very talented people and it’s it’s a way of preserving our culture it’s a way of sharing what we are what makes us different right it’s it’s our Aloha spirit which is huge there’s no real one-word explanation for that and that’s

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what makes it beautiful right so and that’s what we try to share too is the fire department well you you guys are a really positive presence in our community I want to say again it’s my perception different than we see the police portrayed in the media they’re usually more gentle with the fire department it seems you know people are really really nice to us they have open hearts you know and I think a lot of it is perception the police department does an outstanding job for our community and

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without them we would have just complete chaos and people need to understand that they do a lot for this community and they just need to have that respect I think that’s that’s all that’s needed you know we look at what’s going on all over the United States um with some disrespect to law enforcement and I think that’s the wrong these people give up their lives every day you know I’m sure there are and they try to keep law and order in our community if there’s nothing going on then so be it that’s

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great but there’s you know things are changing in this time and there’s always something happening and people are trying to hurt others or steal from others those things are not okay and not okay they’re not okay and and so that’s why we work really well with our brothers and sister in blue and we do a lot of community service together it’s it’s for it’s it’s a way that our departments show the people that were just isn’t much like them you know and we’re real people and that

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we love our community like anybody else and we’re here for you that’s what it is when I think about police and fire together I’m thinking you ever get investigations in to purposely set arson absolutely we’re all over that we work in unison together with our investigators as well as the police there are times that we hand it off to a higher entity whether it be the DEA or FBI and what-have-you it you know we have a small community so we try to keep it that as as solid as possible and when we have those

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situations we really go after those they do come up on occasion oh yes okay you know I always wonder about you know some of that stuff because you know when we’re safe there’s a reason we’re safe because they didn’t make all these television shows and movies and not have it really get down to here where we are right here yeah I’m jumping all over the map I hope you’re okay there’s not a problem when I because it’s quote mostly owned by one guy do they have huge input

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into your plan or is llinois that’s that’s a workable plan right now and and we have close relationships with with that company lanai Paloma Paloma lanai yeah they’re great partners right now you know the county has a lot of responsibility as well as the state and that’s something that we just we’ve normally do that anyway you know until that situation changes we’ll have to adapt to that but right now you know there’s about little over 3,000 residents that we take care of whether

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they’re part of the company or not they’re you know we take care of everybody yeah visitors doesn’t matter that’s our job we do it if they’re on fire you stop it absolutely if anything’s going on we’re there you know is everything fire related I mean know if– guards and things like that or a rescue when you’re saying rescue we do a lot of men response as well so it’s it’s little over 50% of our response right so if someone has a broken leg and our EMS unit is out we’re there or if they need

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help carrying them we come we do all of those things so every bit of the pie as far as emergency response we’re part of like I’ve seen at senior centers the police come and a fire truck yep normally we will do all the assessments for the further medics yes that’s a steep responsibility so the ambulance service is contracted from the state to deal with transport that’s the only thing we don’t do nice nice board yeah so is there a way or is it makes sense to integrate some of these things are

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you know I’m always wondering why they bring in a fire truck and can’t one call for the other well it’s dependent on the issue police show up if there’s anything that could be going into the criminal realm and they help control the scene right because sometimes these scenes get emotional so they take care of a lot of stuff as well as the investigation that that goes down with whether it be an accident or what have you so you might come to a situation and they release you yes sir oh absolutely

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okay right or they’ll come to a situation and they’ll release themselves because there we got it and it’s not something that they have to report on and so it’s it’s a it’s a great team that we got out there for our community um it’s nice to really you know maybe this is routine to everybody but I think it’s important for us to realize that the police and the fire people are really working well together yeah absolutely you’re being as efficient as you can because I hear a lot of that I

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hear a lot of other people talking about waste mostly it’s in the area of the police are everywhere but fire trucks at these senior centers I’m always wondering I even get around the corner maybe you have small vehicles well we utilize that as well but all of our codes allow for our trucks to enter pretty much anywhere so it’s you know that’s all that’s all pre-planned it’s all part of our code and everything that we do moving forward yeah do you guys all have Dalmatians no we don’t don’t I

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grew up and I happen to have two dumb we had two Dalmatian I grew it and how did that ever happen you guys have the mascots and things like that going on well we have one here now and it’s it’s the state dog pokey it used to be in color cause dog and so we gave up Sparky so that was a national thing and so we retired out Sparky and now we have our own dog yeah yeah but we don’t have them at the stations we we have a hard enough time feeding ourselves great cooks well you know I know we still have some time

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I would like to give you some time for sure we can do it at the end as well but I know that you’ve been working a long time and you probably like a chance to share with our public and people your feelings may I turn to you absolutely Jason thank you very much for that opportunity you know it’s it’s an honor for all of us to serve our public you know the public in the community that we live in and you know I want to take this opportunity to not only thank all of our department members you know whether they

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uniform or support staff thank you so much for all of your support in my administration and doing the right things for our community because there’s a lot of times people are not looking at what the great things that go on within our department that we just set forth for our people because that’s the right thing to do so I want to thank all of them first off I want to thank my family for their support and being behind me all my whole career you know it it makes a big difference knowing that you’re loved and

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you’re supported at home to help you do what you do and and I want to thank all the families because every single one of our members within our department has a big role they do their job they make my job easy I ask them to do something they get up and they do it and they do it with pride and professionalism and you know that’s I think the people know that but they need to hear it and I appreciate everything that they’ve done and I also really want to thank our community for their support and trust in trusting in

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us with with their loved ones with their homes with their property and you know feeling confident that they can call 9-1-1 and that will show up and we’ll do the right things and and do it professionally and do it with compassion and do it with a law and I and I just it’s just been a huge honor to serve this community for so long and you know it’s a bittersweet end for me a career that has extended over thirty four and a half years you know as a military firefighter and and I learned a lot and

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it’s been something that I knew I could do you know health and God willing that I could get this far and I just really really appreciate this whole process and and the support moving forward and I’m so honored and very lucky to be here and lucky to serve and I’m gonna miss serving our people I I literally love doing this whether I was working or not I always wanted to help people and I think you know people need to look at our department and our people and they all want to do that too and that’s what

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makes it awesome to work with there because everybody has that same mentality and feeling within their hearts for our community and and and they risk it all every day so I love all of you thank you for that Jason you’re welcome I think I’m gonna give us a few minutes of music what do you think of that and then come back and wrap it up and we’re gonna also include a smart minute welcome to the neutral zone smart minute did you know that power bills have increased in a study of 10,000 homes 80%

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of the households saw their rates go up after smart meters were installed so many customers saw their bills skyrocket with smart meters that they filed class-action lawsuits in two of the biggest states Texas and California smart meter mesh networks consume significant amounts of electricity as part of their normal operation reports from around the world in every region of the u.s. of smart meters causing fires I can go on the FBI warns that smart meters hacking may cost 400 million a year [Music]

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here’s our friend from Molokai Hilo nose doing a song that we were years ago from David Gates thousand words then why Karen you will [Music] be you I’ve come to know [Music] if the bass could love 2,000 ships but where am I [Music] there’s no one here you’re wrong me too and when [Music] for life keeps running you can [Music] yes [Music] if the man could be places at one time tomorrow [Music] today beside you all the way if the world should stop revolver spinning slowly down to [Music]

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I’d spare me with you in the world [Music] [Music] that’s from Lana’s new album old style he’s got a bunch of them well thank you Jeff Murray on our flashy for being here with us today you’re very very welcome thank you and a pleasure well here at the neutral zone we’re gonna sign off we hope to see you next week and remember your wonderful Aloha