HANAMA‘ULU — Details were scarce, but not the emergency-response personnel, as crews from the Kaua‘i Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau were joined by KFD firefighters, Lihu‘e Airport firefighters, U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility firefighters, state Department of Land and
HANAMA‘ULU — Details were scarce, but not the emergency-response personnel, as crews from the Kaua‘i Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau were joined by KFD firefighters, Lihu‘e Airport firefighters, U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility firefighters, state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement personnel, American Medical Response professionals, and members of the Kaua‘i Police Department, as they responded to reports of a plane that was apparently hit by a rocket launched from shore Tuesday morning shortly before 10:30.
The scenario was part of a week-long, disaster-simulation exercise that is taking place on the island coordinated by leaders with the Hawai‘i Army National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team (CST) and the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency.
On Monday, various departments and agencies involved in disaster response familiarized themselves with equipment and policies of a coordinated multi-agency response to disaster.
While emergency response personnel were reacting at Hanama‘ulu, other personnel were also reacting at Lihu‘e Airport, where federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials spearheaded appropriate airport security measures, and the police were shutting down traffic to both the Ahukini Pier as well as Hanama‘ulu Beach Park.
The plane apparently broke into two pieces, as heads could be seen bobbing in two general locations in Hanama‘ulu Bay. Kaua‘i police vehicles were cruising the park, the detective unit arrived on scene to check out reports of a discovered rocket launcher, and the new pavilion was taken over as part of a central command center. Off to one side, American Red Cross officials and volunteers had already set up a tent where water and food were ready for the rescuers.
“If this was real, they would set us up at 7-Eleven,” Alfred Darling of the Red Cross noted. “We came early to set up.”
Red Cross volunteers, including Guy Nagai, who was volunteering on his day off from work, kept the emergency-response personnel well-hydrated from a cooler on a pickup truck that was moved into the hot zone.
One of the firemen who was waiting to spring into action noted that Tuesday was supposed to be a water-rescue practice day, anyway. The added weight of a plane load of casualties only enhanced the practice exercise, as KFD Ocean Safety Bureau Cosupervisor Kalani Vierra monitored the offshore activities aboard a personal watercraft.
With heads bobbing in the wind-driven, choppy ocean, Vierra’s water-safety officers were joined by inflatable craft from the DLNR as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, while on shore, crews of fire and water-safety personnel readied massive amounts of rescue material to help retrieve the casualties.
As the bodies battled the cold and wind-driven waves, at one point rescuers considered moving casualties to the Ahukini State Recreational Pier, but scuttled that idea when it was discovered that some of the casualties were describing symptoms that might indicate broken backs.
- Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
