Hawai‘i Fire Chief Kazuo Todd remembered for his unwavering commitment to Big Island community

On Saturday, when Hawai‘i Fire Chief Kazuo Todd was asked to speak at a blessing in Kawaihae for a new brush fire tanker, he joked he shouldn’t be given the mic because everyone knows: “I like to talk.”

Laura Mallery-Sayre said Todd profusely thanked the community, the volunteer firefighters and the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation, which had been working for two years to support the Kohala Ranch Community Association’s purchase of the new tanker to replace the one that was 40 years old.

“I love this job. I love being your chief. I’m really grateful I get to be in service,” the chief said.

That was the last time Mallery-Sayre saw Todd. The next morning she and people around the Big Island and the state learned of the heartbreaking news that the 45-year-old Todd had died of natural causes.

“At 45, you don’t expect this to happen,” Mallery-Sayre said. “He loved his job and was totally committed. He tried to be there for everybody.”

Paramedics responded at 12:40 a.m. to Todd’s Hilo home. He was suffering from a cardiac event. Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Volpe, who is second in command at the fire department, received a call about Todd and rushed to the emergency room at Hilo Medical Center.

He sat with Todd’s wife and mother while medical personnel worked to revive the chief. He was with the family when the decision was made to stop life-saving measures. His adult daughter was off island.

“It was a complete shock,” Volpe said Sunday afternoon. “He had just done a vehicle blessing. He went home after that and was building a fence because pigs were getting into his yard.”

The last time Volpe saw Todd was on Friday, saying the chief was happy, looked fine, sounded great and was “energized,” after returning from a national wildfire coordinating group conference and training in California.

When Todd took the top role in the fire department more than four years ago, Volpe said the chief’s goals were to fix the budget, modernize record management and upgrade aging fire vehicles.

“Little by little, he added $30 million to the (county) fire budget,” Volpe said. “He got money for ambulances, brush trucks and fire trucks.”

Volpe said the department went from having ambulances breaking down on the roadside to now having new emergency vehicles with eight spares.

“His personal work ethic is unrivaled,” Volpe said. “He’s a fixer and creative problem solver.”

Todd also worked on getting equipment to help target fires more efficiently. With a subscription to infrared mapping, Todd said the department is able to get drone footage and map out hot spots to better pinpoint where there’s smoke and what area needs water in a fire.

Volpe, who will step in as interim chief per county statutes, said the death of Todd impacts the entire state.

Todd also was the chair of the State Fire Council and guided them through the process of finding the state’s first fire marshal following the deadly Lahaina fire in August 2023.

“His legacy is statewide,” Volpe said. “It’s a huge loss.”

Statements on Sunday by Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and new Fire Marshal Dori Booth also praised Todd for his state efforts.

“Chief Kazuo Todd was passionate about keeping people safe and his leadership was an example for those in the fire service in Hawaiʻi County and across the state,” Green said.

Volpe said Todd changed the department’s vision and mission statements to emphasize safeguarding life, property and community, and serve with aloha.

“That was the measuring stick of how decisions were made,” Volpe said.

During Todd’s time as chief, he led the department during some of the most challenging disasters in the county, including the Mana Road fire in August 2021 that burned more than 40,000 acres, and the recent hotel and business fires in Hilo in November.

“We’ve been through a lot from banyan trees falling, fire on the mauna, collapsed bridges and hotel fires,” Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda said on Sunday afternoon.

Alameda, who worked with Todd’s mom, Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, during the Billy Kenoi administration, went to their home Sunday afternoon to offer condolences.

“I just wanted to give his mom a big hug,” Alameda said. “I just wanted them to know that the county is there for them.”

Alameda said Todd was the first person from the county to congratulate him on his win in the 2024 mayoral race.

“He gave me a big hug and told me, ‘Welcome to the team,'” Alameda recalled.

Alameda said Todd’s legacy is the partnerships he had that helped bring state-of-the-art equipment to the department, as well as the recent partnership with Life Flight Network, which began operating an air ambulance service on Hawai‘i Island in November.

“He was the chief who was the innovator,” Alameda said. “He was always looking to get the best of the best.”

Ben Clayton with Life Flight Network was at a loss for words Sunday following the news of Todd.

“It’s tragic,” Clayton said. “I’m still trying to process.”

Clayton’s last interaction with Todd was during the blessing of the Life Flight helicopters in November.

“He truly cared for the community and wanted to bring what was best for everyone on the Big Island,” he said. “My heart goes out to his family.”

Alameda said he’d been collaborating with Todd on new fire stations in Kea‘au, Honoka‘a and a new central fire station in Hilo.

“My goal was to design them in my first term and build in the second,” the mayor said.

Alameda has every intention of turning that collaboration into a reality, adding, “That will be our legacy.”

“I’m going to miss him,” Alameda said. “I miss him already.”

For several years, Todd volunteered his time with the Sayre Memorial Foundation, founded by Mallery-Sayre and her husband, Frank Sayre, in 1997, to help raise money for equipment and training for the fire department.

Todd would spend a week at the Sayre’s home in preparation for the foundation’s annual gala dinner, where fire personnel are honored and the nonprofit raises money for the department. Mallery-Sayre said Todd would come stay at her home a week before the event to help organize silent auction items, as well as make sure all technical equipment used during the event was functioning.

At the last dinner, the nonprofit honored two dispatchers, the first time in the 20-year history of the event.

“(Todd) was very adamant that we recognize those two dispatchers who taught CPR over the phone to save loved ones,” foundation co-founder Frank Sayre said.

Mallery-Sayre said one of Todd’s greatest skills was organization: “He set his sight on certain things and got them done.”

One of those tasks was writing a federal grant application to get money for new trucks for the Big Island’s volunteer stations.

“It would take days just to read the application, let alone apply,” Mallery-Sayre said, adding that the process is intimidating.

But that didn’t scare Todd. He not only wrote the grant, but was awarded money for seven trucks. Three have already been delivered.

Mallery-Sayre said she had Todd on speed dial. There was something she would call him for daily.

“Even if he was busy, he would tell me: ‘I always have a minute for you, Laura,'” Mallery-Sayre recalled. “He would always end the conversation by saying: ‘I love you.'”

The Sayres are setting up a survivor’s fund within the foundation to help Todd’s wife and daughter. To donate, write a check to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation’s “Survivor Fund: with 100 percent of the proceeds going to support Todd’s family.

Checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 1285 Kailua-Kona, HI 96745.

Alameda also will order Hawaiian and American flags at county parks to be flown at half-staff starting Monday and will keep them there for at least a week.