‘Issues’ behind temporary relocation of Waiākea Fire Station personnel, equipment explained after they move back in

A week ago, the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency provided only a vague reason why personnel and equipment from Waiākea Fire Station No. 2 had to temporarily relocate to another firehouse.

The agency’s message sent at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 said the relocation was because of “issues” with the firehouse in the Keaukaha area of Hilo. But some members of the public wanted to know more.

In the Hawaiʻi Tracker group on Facebook, Ken Deehr commented on a post: “Maybe those in charge could explain what ‘issues’ these are since we pay the taxes for it.”

On Friday, in a news release that announced crews had moved back into Waiākea Fire Station No. 2, the community finally got the answer: dangerous mold.

The Hawai‘i Fire Department said it made the difficult decision on Sept. 13 to relocate Waiākea personnel to Station No. 3 on Haihai Street, nearly 5 miles away, after receiving a report of a dangerous mold condition inside the firehouse at 95 Kea’a St.

Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Volpe told Big Island Now that the recent study performed by Lehua Environmental found high concentrations of mold in the station’s locker room.

“It was their professional recommendation to restrict access to that room because the locker room … is also the primary shower room and restroom facilities for the station, and because our personnel work 24-hour shifts, we needed an alternative,” Volpe said.

There are few Hawai‘i County facilities that can support fire personnel and operations, especially on such short notice, so the department chose the Haihai station as its primary alternative location for the Waiākea crew.

Work began immediately to clean and repair the station.

Emergency funding was approved Monday and a professional contractor was brought in to mitigate the mold problem, which began sending equipment to Hilo that night. Volpe said work started first thing Tuesday morning.

He admitted service delays were expected, but would have been neglible.

Ambulance service for the Keaukaha area normally is provided by Station 1 in downtown Hilo and Station 3, so there would be no impact to EMS services.

Companies 1, 3 and 4 (which is on Kaʻūmana Drive) are all within 5 miles from Station 2 and able to respond in the event of an emergency, likely delaying service by a matter of minutes.

Some personnel also remained at the Keaukaha station, but out of the building in a portable trailer, so the department could maintain a prompt initial response in the area.

Firefighters staying in the portable building made arrangements with county partners to use showers and restrooms as needed.

The goal was to minimize the impact to the community. Work steadily progressed throughout the week. On Friday, the department reported all work was completed and Waiākea Fire Station No. 2 was reoccupied and operations and response times are now back to normal.

Volpe said the department understands that for many, having a fire station in their community gives them a feeling of safety and comfort. Learning that the firehouse down the street is abrubtly closing shocked the community.

“We have an obligation to provide a safe working environment for our firefighters as well as maintain the high level of service that the community expects,” Volpe said. “The immediate decisions, actions and subsequent decisions represent our attempt to best meet both goals.”