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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Firefighters heed
concerns on public poolQuestion: I notice that around 4 p.m. several times a week, firemen from Station 30 -- Moanalua -- are using the new Salt Lake District Park swimming pool. Why are the firemen allowed to drive their trucks, to swim at a public pool during public time? Their equipment is also taking up a lot of parking space. But more important, how can they respond quickly to an emergency, if they're in the pool and their trucks are just sitting there in the lot?
Answer: Firefighters from all three platoons at the Moanalua Fire Station have been using the Salt Lake pool as part of their required fitness and water safety activities, said Assistant Chief Charles Wassman, of the Honolulu Fire Department.
Often, they will take all three of their "apparatuses" -- engine, ladder and tender -- with them, he acknowledged.
However, in recognition of the concerns you expressed, the firefighters will schedule their pool time so as not to infringe on other pool users.
If the parking lot is full, the firefighters have been instructed not to use the pool, Wassman said. If the pool is crowded, they will try to reschedule their activity -- but not before 4 p.m. -- and if that is not possible, they will not use the pool, he said.
Also, when the firefighters are in the water, one person will be assigned to monitor the department's radio and one person will monitor the equipment.
Regarding public safety, Wassman said firefighters are not required to remain at their quarters at all times, and "in fact, we don't want them to be in quarters all day long." They are trained to respond within their "area of response," he said.
The bottom line, Wassman said, is that the department recognizes that "if we're using the pool or any public facility, and if the public is not able to use it, then we need to take a step back."
If you have any more concerns, Wassman can be reached at 831-7773.
If there are future complaints, the "activity will be curtailed," he said.
Q: Lake Wilson in Wahiawa has been cleared of Salvinia molesta for almost a month. The battle with the "Green Monster" has been won. So when is the state going to remove the security guards, open the lake and let us go fishing again?
A: Not until sometime in June.
Although shoreline areas of Lake Wilson, officially known as the Wahiawa Freshwater State Recreation Area, were reopened to the public last Saturday, there are still "minor maintenance tasks" that need to be done.
Until those tasks are completed, the boat ramp will remain closed and the lake will remain off-limits to boaters and fishermen, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. "We ask the public to bear with us for a bit longer," she said.
The department will announce when portions of the lake are reopened.
In the meantime, the department has an online chronicle of the three-month effort to remove the aquatic weed, which covered about 95 percent of the 285-acre lake at one point, on its Invasive Species Web site at www.state.hi.us/dlnr.
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