The Honolulu Fire Department's aviation manager wants to beef up the department’s ability to fight fires and make rescues.
Battalion Chief Robert Thurston's vision includes adding two new helicopters and three more full-time pilots.
HFD is in the process of buying a modernized twin-engine helicopter, a Bell 429, to replace one of three active, single-engine helicopters that were built in the 1990s. A fourth helicopter in HFD's fleet is currently being refurbished.
The fire department's current fleet consists of MD 520 NOTAR helicopters.
Thurston hopes to get one more Bell 429 and permanently decommission one of the MD 520s. He says the time and costs associated with refurbishing the older helicopters would be better spent on a newer, more capable vehicle for fighting fires and making rescues.
"I think, as part of a greater, macro look at statewide resources, and particularly attributable to wildland fires, what is our best investment? What is our best use of taxpayer dollars? How are we going to serve the public the best?" he said.
Thurston said the new helicopter could carry nearly 300 gallons of water per trip — compared to the 100 gallons the MD 520s can carry — and has modern internals and technology to help with navigation and flying during challenging conditions.
The new helicopter will also require less maintenance.
That could help with fires, although Thurston said larger ones like the recent Mililani Mauka wildfire that burned about 1,700 acres are, by design, largely handled by state and federal fire crews and their heavier equipment.
Still, he's hoping for more pilots so the department can better handle things like fires.
While HFD's aviation program is fully staffed, only two of the department's helicopters were used during the Mililani Mauka fire because of staffing limitations.
"Keep in mind, we still had to respond to rescues while the fire was going on. There were a couple of times where the aircraft had to respond to other incidents, not just the mauka fire," he said.
Thurston wants nine full-time pilots for the aviation program instead of the six currently staffed.
The number of pilots allotted for HFD was increased just two years ago, but he said an increase in wildfires and rescues as well as Hawaiʻi’s isolation in the Pacific Ocean justifies even more pilots and aircraft.
"That's one of the things the continent enjoys: They have mutual aid agreements that other fire departments come and help other fire departments. And they can do that, you know, within hours. We don't have that luxury," Thurston said.
