New battallion chief Kaden got into career by accident. By LESTER CHANG TGI Staff Writer Bob Kaden, a 23-year veteran of the Kaua’i Fire Department and a Kaua’i County Planning Commissioner, has been named the department’s newest battalion chief. Kaden
New battallion chief Kaden got into career by accident.
By LESTER
CHANG
TGI Staff Writer
Bob Kaden, a 23-year veteran of the Kaua’i Fire
Department and a Kaua’i County Planning Commissioner, has been named the
department’s newest battalion chief.
Kaden drew high marks from his boss,
fire chief David Sproat.
“Bob is an exceptional firefighter and a leader,”
Sproat said. “He is an outstanding choice for B.C. (battalion chief).”
Kaden, previously a fire captain at the fire station in Hanale’i, replaces
Danny Smith, who retired last year.
Kaden spent most of his career at the
Hanalei station and has been captain for the past six years.
In his new
job, Kaden said he will strive to improve training programs, an effort he said
is in line with Sproat’s goal to use manpower and equipment
cost-effectively.
Along with two other battalion chiefs, Kaden will oversee
the running of the county’s seven fire stations.
Kaden enjoys his job
because it has allowed him to help residents and visitors in their time of
need.
A former fire department Employee of the Year, Kaden has been
involved with water rescue training throughout his career. During the past
legislative session, Kaden also lobbied for a bill that would allow the county
to place firefighters on state beaches to try to curb drownings. The bill
failed, but county officials have vowed to lobby for a similar bill next
year.
Kaden said the transfer of the lifeguard division from the county
Public Works Department to the fire department will lead to better services to
the public.
The fire department has reached higher levels of
professionalism with the addition of a 12-member search and rescue team, Kaden
believes.
Ocean rescues will be expedited because firefighters and
lifeguards will be part of a single management system, Kaden said.
His
experience in the department has equipped him with the skills to do his new job
well, Kaden believes.
“The fire calls, the ocean or land rescues, medical
calls and working with fellow firefighters as a team a leading them — all
these things are important to have when you take a leadership position,” Kaden
said.
Kaden also foresees improvements in the department because “we have
some really talented firefighters throughout the ranks.”
“We have energetic
people who want to advance themselves and the fire department,” Kaden said.
“They are motivated to do the job well.”
Had it not been for encouraging
words from Kaua’i firefighter Bill Enoka 25 years ago, Kaden might not be
doing what he is today.
In 1975, a visitor got in trouble while swimming
off Wailua Beach and was pulled to shore where Enoka, other firefighters and
Kaden, an off-duty county lifeguard at the time, attempted to revive the man.
The man died, but Enoka was impressed by Kaden’s efforts and suggested
Kaden look into a career as a firefighter.
Kaden passed the tests with
flying colors and joined the department in 1987. Today, he remains good friends
with Enoka, who retired as a fire captain in the mid- 1990s.
Kaden, 54,
grew up on Oahu and graduated from high school in 1964. He worked on and off as
a lifeguard in Honolulu.
Kaden said he fell in love with Kaua’i while
visiting the island with his family as a young boy.
“I remembered how
beautiful it was, the gorgeous ocean, and surfing was good,” Kaden said. “I
appreciated the clean environment and the extreme quiet.”
In 1967, Kaden
was drafted by the Army and was sent to Vietnam for 13 months of combat duty in
Vietnam.
After his discharge, Kaden attended the University of Hawai’i and
graduated with a degree in political science. In 1969, he moved to Kaua’i, and
because there weren’t many lifeguard jobs, he chose a career as a
firefighter.
In his first job as a fire apparatus operator, he helped
maintain emergency vehicles and equipment. He then rose through the ranks to
become a captain six years ago.
As a battalion chief, a county planner,
father of two children and a husband, Kaden acknowledges he has his hands
full.
But, he said, “You do what you have to do. If it seems it is
important, you will definiitely get it done.”
Staff writer Lester
Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
