DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Firefighter Tom Ettinger holds the rope for firefighter Cliff Rigsbee during a rappeling exercise off the fire department's training tower.

Rescue squads
show elite skills

Firefighters must pass rigorous
tests to grab a coveted position

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

They scale mountains, plunge into the ocean and dangle from helicopters.

They are the rescue specialists of the Honolulu Fire Department's two rescue companies stationed at the Pawaa and Kalihi Kai stations.

The rigorous work requires above average stamina and determination, upper body strength, hiking ability and ocean competency, said 40-year-old Myles Okada, acting captain for Rescue 2.

"Rescue squads put in a hard day's work in a 24-hour shift," said Battalion Chief Paul Gerard.

On Jan. 1, after the Rescue 2 squad searched through the dense foliage and rough terrain of the Koolau mountains in Nuuanu from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for missing hiker George Morishima, the crew returned to the station and showered.

At 8 p.m., the alarm sounded again and the crew was off on another search and rescue mission for four stranded hikers on a Mokuleia ridge in the Waianae mountains.

Unlike their mainland counterparts who specialize in one discipline, the HFD's six rescue squads are skilled in water and wilderness search and rescue and extrications from vehicles, machinery and confined spaces such as manholes.

"We pretty much cover everything ... because we have no other counties to call on," Gerard said.

Having the stomach to view "gruesome things," is also required, Okada said, referring to the dead and injured.

Firefighters vie for the coveted rescue specialist positions despite the challenges and because of them.

To qualify, firefighters must first pass a timed test involving a 600-meter swim, treading water, chin-ups, a 1- 1/2-mile run, and climbing 10 floors or 20 flights of stairs wearing full protective gear in a minute and 30 seconds or less.

Lyndon Shima said his rope training came in handy when he had to scale a 60-foot dry waterfall during their search for Morishima. When Shima, 36, reached the Firefighter 2 rank, he could have chosen any position including tiller (driver at the back of a ladder truck), alarm bureau worker, hazardous materials specialist or a chief's aide.

For Shima, who enjoys the outdoors, exercise, hiking and swimming, there was only one real choice: rescue.

"It fit me perfectly," he said. "It's an adventurous job and a lot of people want to do it."

"If you're hanging from a rope at 300 feet, it's excitement, a thrill. It's like a rush," said Michael Chun, 32.

But "fear keeps you sharp and thinking," which he said helps him avoid becoming overconfident.

Chun recalled one of his toughest assignments -- the night ocean recovery of a diver's body at Yokohama Bay, where the Coast Guard had reported a shark sighting.

"I went in alone to pull the body by myself, not knowing if there really was a shark," he said.

He didn't see one.

Unlike other firefighters, who receive direction from their superiors, a rescue specialist is often the only one at the scene to assess the situation and to make critical decisions.

"When you're on a mission and you're so far away from command in the ocean or the mountains, you're the one the victim is relying on," Shima said. "You have to know what you're doing, and hopefully, you make the right call."

And many rescue specialists agree "the hardest part of the job is to be the one to tell the family we recovered the body," said Okada.

Okada, whose crew was also involved in the 1999 Sacred Falls rock slide rescue and recovery, said the most emotionally difficult call he's responded to was that of 26-year-old Dara Onishi, a Nuuanu woman crushed by a boulder in August while asleep in her bed.

Shima said they weren't told what had happened.

"When I walked into the house, I was like, 'What happened here?'" he said. "Who expects a boulder to come into your house? You have to expect the unexpected."

Despite the emotional stress and grueling work, squad members say they wouldn't trade their much sought-after positions for higher paying jobs.

"It's rewarding, helping people" said Chun, who had planned to work as a youth counselor after college and is now a substitute teacher on his days off. "I wouldn't do anything different, even if they gave me more money."

When the victim or family shows appreciation for their efforts, "even if the outcome is not what they want, ... for me, that's my reward," Chun said.

Chun, who is married with two children, says his wife worried when he was a firefighter.

"Now she's even more worried, but I don't tell her everything that happens," he said. "I think she'd rather have it that way."

Although rescue specialists form an elite team, they insist they're just doing their job.

The red long-sleeved T-shirts they often wear distinguish them from other firefighters, but Chun says only so they can be seen more easily.

"We're just another tool in the department, like the pliers in a toolbox," Chun said. "Everybody has the same overall goal."

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Honolulu Fire Department