LIHU‘E — It may be a more dangerous time to be injured or lost in the woods on Kaua‘i, and brush fires may burn longer and stronger than they otherwise might. A helicopter pilot ready, willing, able and certified to
LIHU‘E — It may be a more dangerous time to be injured or lost in the woods on Kaua‘i, and brush fires may burn longer and stronger than they otherwise might.
A helicopter pilot ready, willing, able and certified to do certain types of rescues and fire suppression may be over 90 miles and several hours away in Honolulu.
Last week, Kaua‘i Fire Department officials were forced to contract a helicopter from O‘ahu to fight a Kekaha brush fire because no pilot and equipment on the island were allegedly able and available to do that work.
The fire was first reported at around 10:30 a.m. Friday, but the county did not reach out to Paradise Helicopters for more than three hours, waiting until it was determined that helicopter support was needed, county spokeswoman Mary Daubert said in an e-mail Tuesday.
From the 1:57 p.m. request, it took another 104 minutes until the helicopter’s first flight over the fire, which was deemed under control shortly thereafter. Paradise was released from the scene at 6:30 p.m., and 15 out-of-the-way acres ended up scorched.
Daubert said the county was charged Paradise’s hourly rate of $850 for 4.2 hours for a total of $3,570.
Ken D’Attilio, pilot and owner of Inter-Island Helicopters, typically charges the county $1,120 per hour, Daubert said, and Jack Harter Helicopters normally charges $1,050 per hour. Both of those companies are based on Kaua‘i and presumably would not need as much time to reach a fire or emergency.
Beyond the added expense of off-island emergency assistance, the delay could put people or property in peril. The wait for a Honolulu helicopter company is between 90 minutes and two hours, but there are other places the county can turn to, Daubert said.
“If we need additional manpower to fight a fire, we would call upon other resources on island including PMRF, DLNR, Airport Crash/Fire/Rescue, and Hawai‘i Army National Guard,” she said. “Evacuation plans would be implemented if necessary.”
Daubert said PMRF was not contacted Friday because in order to request helicopter support from PMRF, there must be an immediate threat to life or property, and the isolated Kekaha fire did not meet that threshold.
In most cases helicopters are available on Kaua‘i in the private sector to do search-and-rescue work.
“We have found in the vast majority of cases that necessary helicopter support has been available when needed and that rescues have been completed within a very short response time, barring weather and other extenuating circumstances,” Daubert said.
Most of those rescues she refers to were accomplished by D’Attilio, with more recent help being provided by Jack Harter Helicopters.
D’Attilio is currently off-island test-flying some helicopters and is planning on bringing a new bird back when he returns. Two of his other helicopters are coming out of major rebuilds within the next two months, and he hopes to resume rescue, firefighting and other work when he returns to Kaua‘i, he said in an e-mail.
But the fact remains that there is a real chance, at least until D’Attilio and his craft return to service, that a pilot and craft certified to do extraction-type rescues (with people hanging from a cable under craft) won’t be immediately available if needed.
D’Attilio likely would bid on an upcoming county request for proposals to provide emergency helicopter services, although Inter-Island performed search-and-rescue and firefighting work for the county for over 22 years without a written contract or agreement, he said.
With D’Attilio away and his craft down for maintenance, some of the on-call rescue work of late has fallen to Jack Harter Helicopters, where Casey Riemer is general manager.
“The County of Kaua‘i does need the ability to utilize helicopters for rescue and fire suppression, and we are working to see if that is something we want to do for the county,” Riemer said.
“We’re positioning ourselves to be eligible to do the work for the county on potential contracts,” said Riemer, adding that he would check out the county’s complete bid specifications before determining whether to bid on the upcoming emergency-services contract.
Last week, Harter responded to a KFD call for retrieval of an injured hiker at Kalalau Beach, receiving $1,050 for approximately 50 minutes of work, flying from Lihu‘e Airport to Kalalau to Princeville Airport and back to Lihu‘e Airport the afternoon of Sept. 29, Daubert said.
Medics transported the hiker from Princeville Airport to Wilcox Memorial Hospital via ambulance, Daubert said.
“The County of Kaua‘i has utilized our services for rescues, and we are available,” said Riemer, adding that his company lacks certification necessary for rescues involving people hanging from the end of a cable below the helicopter.
Meanwhile, Preston Myers of Safari Helicopters has had capabilities and certifications necessary to do water drops for the county, but has not received a call for over 10 years, and doesn’t know why, he said via e-mail this week.
Bob Westerman, KFD chief, said had he known of Safari’s capabilities and willingness to do water drops, he would have called on them.
“If they’d have told us we would have called them,” said Westerman, adding there is a difference between “available” and “ready,” with “ready” meaning having the aircraft, pilot and necessary equipment like cables, buckets and hooks.
“I was never aware” of Safari’s availability, Westerman said.
Westerman said KFD has been exploring for two years the possibility of acquiring a county helicopter, but at an asking price of over $1 million getting one becomes a budget issue.
Myers said he did not bid on the marijuana-eradication county contract “due to the restrictive nature of the bid request that was for a specific aircraft and unnecessary required equipment like radar altimeters.”
Myers also said there are only certain specific circumstances when single-engine helicopters can legally carry people hanging from a cable under the aircraft.
“No company can legally carry anyone in such a manner with a single-engine helicopter unless there is an exclusive public use which by U.S. code requires an exclusive contract for a minimum of six months.”
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources on Tuesday announced the re-opening of the Pu‘u ‘Opae section of the Kekaha Game Management Area following Friday’s fire closure in Waiawa Valley in Kekaha.
Kaua‘i County is preparing to issue a request for proposals for companies to provide emergency helicopter services, while two companies have bid on a county contract to provide marijuana-eradication helicopter services, Daubert said.
Inter-Island did not bid on the marijuana-eradication contract, a company spokesperson said.
•Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com. Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
