Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Members of the NYFD and South Carolina State Fire on providing incident management assistance on O'ahu

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Members of the NYFD and South Carolina State Fire on providing incident management assistance on O'ahu · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

0:15
Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
0:16
I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and this week we're joined by a very special guest.
0:20
Over the last few weeks, we've been dealing with Kona low response recovery.
0:26
But we haven't done it alone.
0:27
Joining me this week is Mike Burke, incident commander with the NYFD IMT.
0:33
And, Mike, for those who aren't familiar.
0:36
What is in incident management team?
0:38
What exactly do you folks do?
0:40
Hi Brandi, an incident management team is a really a group of professionals
0:45
that go to areas of the country where, you know, either natural disasters,
0:49
long term events happen and really just help organize the effort.
0:54
So we came to Hawaii with 14 people.
0:57
We joined with the Honolulu Incident Management team,
1:01
and we were out in Waialua, and,
1:05
we were helping with the debris management.
1:07
You know, you saw all the streets were, you know, between the mud and the
1:11
the debris and everything that, you know, people had to take out of their homes.
1:15
It was it was quite a mess.
1:16
So we helped organize the National Guard, DFM
1:22
the volunteers, you know, to kind of organize,
1:25
you know, how to get rid of all of that debris, get people back in their houses.
1:29
So we travel around and we bring kind of a structure.
1:32
So we show up, you know, you know, I'm the incident commander.
1:35
We bring a public information officer, a liaison officer, safety officer,
1:39
and then people from operations who kind of directed
1:43
the troops on the ground logistics, who, you know, really help support them with
1:47
with either tools or food or know lodging, planning.
1:52
You kind of documents it. Yeah.
1:53
And financial keeps track of all the costs.
1:56
And so what was the genesis of the IMT and why does it
2:00
why is it a function of the New York Fire Department.
2:03
So incident management teams have been around for a long time.
2:06
And they were they were mainly a wildland wildland fire function.
2:10
After 911,
2:12
New York found itself in its hardest day and an incident management team
2:16
from the southwest, the wildland team came to New York and tried to help.
2:22
They found a little resistance in New York.
2:24
We thought we were in a situation where we can handle anything,
2:26
you know, with the biggest, baddest fire department in the world.
2:29
And, it took a little while
2:31
to figure out that, you know, everybody needs help sometimes.
2:34
So they started solving problems for us.
2:35
And after that event, the New York City Fire Department really decided that,
2:39
you know, we needed to form one of these teams for ourselves.
2:41
So, you know, we we started initially to locally,
2:45
and now 25 years later, we're, you know, we're here in Hawaii,
2:48
you know, offering help the other way.
2:50
And so you've dealt with disasters of all types.
2:55
How does this compare?
2:57
This is just as bad as a lot of the worst ones
3:00
we've been to, we've been to in the last really few years.
3:03
North Carolina had severe flooding.
3:05
Florida, due to a couple of hurricanes had had flooding.
3:09
In 2012, it was New York City
3:13
that had severe flooding after Superstorm Sandy.
3:16
And so we've experienced a lot of the same things.
3:18
And experienced a lot of the solutions that help us get through it.
3:23
And so how were we able to put those into practice, like
3:25
what kind of things worked here in Hawaii
3:26
that have worked in New York and places in the South or counties like that?
3:30
So really just coming up with the system to to make sure
3:33
we're going about solving the problem in a, in an organized way and,
3:38
you know, the incident command system is, is what we use.
3:41
And the system we use in New York is the same system that they use
3:45
in Texas, is the same system they use in Hawaii.
3:47
So that's how we were able to come and work so seamlessly with with the team
3:51
from Hawaii. Right.
3:52
Were there
3:53
certain challenges that you saw here that you haven't seen anywhere else?
3:56
You know, we are an island in the middle of the Pacific.
3:58
So the being on an island is definitely the biggest challenge.
4:02
So, you know, in in New York, in Florida, in North Carolina,
4:07
you have a hurricane there.
4:08
If I drive two hours away, I can get anything I want immediately.
4:12
It's not so easy here.
4:14
You know,
4:14
you have to work with what you've got for a for a while until help arrives.
4:18
So that's definitely the biggest challenge.
4:20
But I also feel like it's part of your biggest strength is the
4:24
the sense of community and the resilience of of the communities is impressive.
4:29
It was we said it from the beginning of the day
4:31
we got here is, you know, how impressive it is
4:33
that people are really coming together to take care of things themselves.
4:36
And what's your best advice for residents and even visitors, really,
4:40
as you prepare for the next
4:41
major storm, major natural disaster, any kind of emergencies like that?
4:45
I mean, it's always,
4:46
you know, preparing yourselves, having a plan in case of floods
4:50
or emergencies, especially if, you know, if you live in an area, you know, prone
4:53
to flooding, you know, strengthening your homes, you know, taking care of areas
4:58
around your property to if you have to slope water away in in those cases. But
5:03
just generally, you know, having a plan for you and your family.
5:06
And that same goes for tourists.
5:09
When you get here, you know how to account for each other.
5:11
And I know that you did have a meeting with the mayor.
5:15
If you could share, you know, kind of what his words were to you folks.
5:18
And just just what happened in that meeting with mayor?
5:21
The mayor was very thankful.
5:22
He's he's very gracious. He's very personable.
5:24
He is welcome to visit us in he visit us up, at our incident command post.
5:30
And coming here to visit him has been has been great.
5:32
He expressed his gratitude to us,
5:35
on behalf of himself, on behalf of the community.
5:38
And we, you know, we just let him know that,
5:40
you know, we were very happy to be here.
5:41
And it's us paying forward.
5:43
Well, you know, when people helped us.
5:44
What got you into this?
5:46
Because now you're sent to places and you see people on their worst days.
5:50
Why do you run towards that?
5:52
And what I guess keeps that drive going for you?
5:54
I guess that's just the nature of of who we are in the, in the fire service.
5:59
But in any of the police service, the emergency services,
6:03
I don't know if you want to
6:04
call it a calling, a sense of duty, but
6:07
I think just within that the,
6:09
the first responder community,
6:11
there's a sense of trust and duty.
6:13
And even though you come to places on their worst day,
6:16
it makes you feel good that you maybe did a little bit to help.
6:19
And as our community begins to rebuild after this
6:22
latest storm, you've seen a lot of disaster.
6:25
What works for you?
6:27
You know, maybe it's that song that's immediate, like that snapping clear
6:30
or what works for you to kind of get you back to center.
6:33
For me, it's humor.
6:34
If you've if you've hung around with first responders, we have, you know,
6:39
unique sense of humor.
6:41
So that's what worked for us.
6:42
I mean, some people do music, some people do yoga.
6:46
For me, it's humor.
6:49
Well, Mike, thanks so much for your time.
6:50
Is there anything that we missed?
6:52
I don't think so.
6:53
Just thank you very much for having us.
6:55
I want to thank the mayor.
6:57
The Honolulu incident management team, the folks in emergency management,
7:00
everybody was very welcoming, and it was great to work with them.
7:03
Well, Mike, thanks so much for your time.
7:05
Thank you very much.
7:07
And like I mentioned, it wasn't just the New York Fire Department
7:10
here on Oahu to assist following those Kona Loa storms.
7:13
We're also catching up with our partners from South Carolina State Fire
7:17
Chief Matt Rhoton and Chief Jon Jones.
7:20
Sorry, when I say that I think the UFC fighter, I'm sure you get that a lot.
7:24
But Chief Matt, if we can start with you,
7:27
tell us your title and exactly what your team was doing here on Oahu.
7:31
So my normal day jobs.
7:33
I'm, deputy chief of operations for the city of North Charleston Fire Department.
7:37
Here on the team, I work in the operations section.
7:39
And so what does that mean, exactly?
7:41
So coordinating resources
7:44
and the strategic plan, to help things move forward.
7:48
Throughout the incident.
7:50
And Chief Jones, same thing.
7:51
If you could tell us a little bit about yourself and kind of explain,
7:55
the role that your team played here on Oahu.
7:56
Sure.
7:57
So, Jonathan Jones, my, my regular job is, on the South
8:01
Carolina state fire marshal, day in and day out and,
8:07
on the team,
8:07
I serve as the team leader, the incident commander for our team
8:11
or one of the incident commanders for our team.
8:13
And, so, it really is, kind of the
8:17
the connection to the agency administrator or the local incident commander.
8:21
And really making sure
8:24
that we have clear understanding of expectations of what,
8:28
what the role of our team is here and then making sure
8:31
that those expectations are met and executed.
8:34
And, as things adapt and change as they, as they did during this event,
8:39
going from recovery to response, back to recovery, back to response, ensuring
8:44
that that our team, is dynamic and able to flex with whatever the situation is.
8:50
And then we continue to meet the expectations of the jurisdiction.
8:53
We're here to help.
8:54
And so with that said, what has been the role of your team
8:57
here over the past few weeks?
8:58
So we were, we were we were brought in primarily
9:02
to support the, Oahu FC,
9:05
Honolulu, Department Emergency Management team.
9:09
Who'd already been at this for several weeks ahead of us being requested.
9:14
And so, really brought in as, an emergency operation
9:18
support team or emergency operations center support team,
9:23
to integrate with the team that was already here.
9:26
And, to be able to provide them kind of some bench
9:30
depth to allow them to have, an opportunity to rest and reset,
9:35
because this is going to continue to be a long duration, long term recovery,
9:39
not to mention the additional storms that came in behind, Kona one and Kona
9:44
two that brought additional flooding and had to ramp up reopened shelters.
9:50
Go back into the response phase.
9:52
So more than anything, we really are a force multiplier
9:55
brought in to be a force multiplier for the Honolulu incident manager,
10:00
Honolulu emergency Management team.
10:02
And also to give,
10:05
some opportunities to, to coach and mentor, to build relationships and,
10:11
ensure that we're able to,
10:14
not just, provide
10:17
bench depth, but then ultimately support them and give them,
10:21
just the capacity to take on
10:23
all the different aspects of, of of a dual recovery and response mission.
10:27
It's interesting to me, at least, that this falls under
10:30
the responsibility of fire departments elsewhere in other counties.
10:33
I know that you guys, you know, are very versed in in getting rid of flood water,
10:37
helping with debris removal, standing up shelters, mass care things like that.
10:41
But, Chief Matt, if you can kind of explain why
10:43
that function falls under the fire department,
10:46
why fire departments have historically helped with things like this.
10:50
Sure.
10:50
I think the a lot of our training is focused on just incident management.
10:54
And as Chief Jones said, is really our effort in this was support.
10:58
And, just again, being able to provide some depth and, and integrate in
11:01
a system that
11:03
both agencies and sets are using,
11:06
speaking the same language when it comes to, to the running through an incident.
11:11
And again, just kind of working side by side
11:13
and providing that opportunity to provide some relief and know that
11:18
for the rest period that things are going to continue
11:20
moving forward in the way that they already are.
11:21
Right, super valuable.
11:23
And for you personally,
11:24
what kind of disasters have prepared you for the one
11:26
that you currently face here on Oahu the past few weeks?
11:29
Sure, in our state we experience a little bit of everything
11:31
a short of avalanches and volcanoes.
11:35
So yeah, we have every risk and we've dealt
11:37
with flooding and wildfires and things like that.
11:40
So specifically this with flooding and dealing with recovery.
11:43
That's been a good,
11:45
opportunity
11:45
to to have some of those things, having learned lessons and those events,
11:50
to carry forward and provide maybe a little bit unique perspective
11:53
to working through some of those events.
11:54
Yeah. Chief Jonathan, what about what about you?
11:57
Yeah.
11:58
Being again, from the same state and honestly working on
12:01
a lot of the same, disasters.
12:04
I think of in when I was before becoming state fire marshal,
12:08
when I was at the local fire department, I held the same,
12:12
position, deputy chief of operations for my local fire department.
12:15
And, we dealt with what South Carolina knows is the thousand year flood,
12:19
where we, my community got, 28in of rain in, less than 12 hours.
12:25
And so flooding is no stranger to us.
12:28
Flooding is is is different, I think, here on the island, in a lot of ways
12:33
than it is for us, because our mountains are four hours away from the ocean.
12:39
And so,
12:40
if the flooding
12:42
takes on, a little bit different,
12:46
dynamic in that we have flash flooding
12:48
and then we have riverine flooding, we have multiple phases of flooding.
12:53
And then that flooding works its way from the mountains, you know, in
12:56
what we call the upstate all the way down to the ocean until it drains.
13:01
So the the dynamics of flooding is always different
13:04
based on the terrain and topography and where you are.
13:07
But, the nature of flooding events is, is pretty similar,
13:11
regardless of where you are.
13:13
And so between hurricanes and, and,
13:17
you know, significant flooding events and those sorts of things,
13:20
as well as our role at the state is in,
13:26
the emergency support functions for firefighting and search and rescue.
13:29
So that's our responsibility is to manage and coordinate statewide.
13:34
And so we're used to working in an emergency operations center setting, which,
13:40
and coordinating with resource request and,
13:43
and those sorts of things that I think kind of positioned
13:46
us to be able to fold in pretty well with, Department
13:50
of Emergency Management here in the emergency operations center staff.
13:54
With that said, and anyone can take this, but you did mention, you know,
13:57
if the mountain is that close to the ocean, right?
14:01
What kind of unique challenges is that pose that you
14:03
maybe you haven't seen elsewhere in other counties?
14:05
Yeah.
14:05
I mean, it's, it really just compresses the problems
14:09
that we're used to seeing in a short in a very small landmass.
14:12
And so, where,
14:15
where secondary flooding and riverine flooding for us
14:18
may be days or weeks after the initial rainfall and flash flooding.
14:23
By the time it it makes its way through our river systems.
14:27
You don't have the time to react.
14:29
Here, the way that we have the time to react to secondary and riverine
14:32
flooding, your flooding is going to happen within hours.
14:37
In terms of the streams rising and ultimately
14:40
it's all got to make its way out to the Pacific.
14:43
And so,
14:44
the, the
14:45
time frame for decision making and preparation is much more compressed
14:49
just because of the, the topography and how,
14:53
close the, the mountains are to, to the sea, to the ocean.
14:57
So I would say that's probably the major difference.
15:00
I mean, the, the low lying areas, the the flooding has very similar
15:06
characteristics to what we're used to in our low lying areas of the state.
15:09
But I would say the proximity, of the mountains and, and the
15:15
I would say just in general, the sloped terrain to, to the low
15:19
lying areas in the ocean compresses the time to make decisions
15:23
and react to, to what's the significant rainfall.
15:27
All right.
15:27
Anything to add?
15:28
I agree, I think that was the challenge.
15:30
And asking questions of what other influences from that event.
15:33
So in a very short amount of time you're dealing with the rainfall flooding.
15:37
But then potential mudslides and other things like that.
15:42
And then very quickly behind that, water coming down,
15:46
from the mountains to just further impact.
15:49
And so a lot of very quick decision making and coming what's next
15:53
and trying to be predictive and get back ahead of whatever's happening.
15:56
Yeah.
15:57
So what would be your advice
15:58
to Oahu residents and really visitors as well as we prepare.
16:02
Because it's not a matter of of if but when for the next storm,
16:06
the next major disaster or anything like that.
16:09
I think it's following the lead
16:10
of your local Department of Emergency management.
16:13
When they're talking preparedness messages and sharing the information
16:16
about being ready and, and their warnings, signing up for the alerts,
16:19
those are all key things as they continue to publish information
16:22
throughout the year where it's not quite the
16:24
the season is just that general message of staying ready.
16:28
Yeah. Anything to add?
16:29
Yeah, you know, readiness and and having your own plan, is important.
16:35
You know, whether, whether that's in, in response,
16:39
in preparation for flooding for, you know, fire,
16:43
always being prepared and having your plan ready, knowing if an evacuation
16:48
order is given, where you're going to go, how are you going to get there?
16:52
Having an alternate,
16:54
travel plan because, you know, one one thing about,
16:57
we realize being on the island is,
17:00
yeah, one road goes out and you've got an area that's isolated.
17:03
So having an alternative plan to what your primary plan is,
17:08
but heeding the
17:09
the the warnings and the advice of those that, are in emergency management
17:14
and in these leadership roles to ensure that,
17:18
you're paying attention, you're,
17:20
you're alerted to the problems ahead of,
17:24
to give yourself time to react.
17:27
You know, one of the main focus is, has been early warning to give
17:31
give the public time to react and getting that messaging out there.
17:34
So paying attention and being prepared and having your own plan, and then,
17:40
you know, one thing that really has, struck with me and stuck with me,
17:45
is the nature of,
17:48
the citizens to just take care of each other.
17:51
And so, you know, where,
17:54
you know, maybe someone who's elderly or has trouble getting around
17:57
or whatever may have problems getting out on their own,
18:00
you know, where they are in your community.
18:02
You know, those family members is being someone who checks on others
18:06
and and that's one thing we learned about, you, Ohana, right?
18:10
You're your family, and you're tied to to each other and to the community is,
18:15
it it's a personal responsibility not just to take care
18:18
and prepare yourself, but to take care of, prepare for others.
18:21
And so that I think that would be my advice.
18:24
And I want to know for you personally
18:27
what drew you to this to to fire service
18:29
and more particularly incident management, because it is a profession.
18:32
When you see communities
18:33
and individuals on their very worst day, but incident management in particular,
18:38
you're seeing them in the situation and then you're being pulled
18:41
from your home for weeks, you know, maybe months.
18:44
I mean, I think we're all community.
18:46
It's not this isn't where I live.
18:47
But, I'm leaving here with, relationships and friendships.
18:52
And, I mean, truthfully, family.
18:54
This it's not where I live, but I do feel like, it's community.
18:59
And so, I think that's
19:01
one of the things that drew me to public service in general was,
19:06
you know, a desire to
19:10
be part of something bigger than myself.
19:13
I'm particularly drawn
19:15
to incident management because,
19:18
like being able to,
19:21
plan and bring order to chaos.
19:23
And we talk about structure to uncertainty.
19:26
But, I mean, really, it's
19:27
making sure that the people that need help get help when they need it.
19:31
And, you know, it's a humbling.
19:34
We talk about this on our team.
19:38
It's really humbling to remember that,
19:42
we end up doing the things that we do.
19:44
We end up being deployed here to Hawaii because people are having a bad day.
19:50
I mean, and so our,
19:53
our opportunity to provide service comes on the back of other people's suffering.
19:57
And so, we none of us, we we don't take that lightly.
20:01
We're like, we realize that,
20:03
you know, we're deployed to Hawaii, but we're here because people need help.
20:08
And so it for it really forges us
20:12
to make sure that we're committed to providing help first.
20:15
And foremost, and doing whatever it takes
20:17
to provide support to the people of Honolulu people, the people of Oahu,
20:23
and that
20:23
that's always something that we keep in, in our minds is that, that we're here
20:27
to, to relieve suffering, to help people, to get,
20:31
you know, one of the most impactful things
20:34
that that some of our team members got to do is be directly involved
20:37
in a community assistance center, directly providing handing water,
20:42
diapers and all those kinds of things to people who,
20:46
you know, not only didn't, didn't have the supplies,
20:49
but in some cases had no where to take them, had nowhere to go.
20:52
They lost their home.
20:54
And so that's, that's really humbling
20:57
and really why we do what we do, in my opinion.
21:02
No, I agree, I think the opportunity
21:04
initially to serve and that's the and you know, back
21:08
as young and firefighting, there's obviously little excitement.
21:11
But progressing through the opportunity to serve and
21:15
even more so,
21:17
in our area experiencing the disasters we have receiving help.
21:20
And so this is being an opportunity to again, further
21:25
offer help to an area that may need it and what little bit we can do.
21:28
And back up, folks, again in a time of need.
21:32
That was kind of the tactical, help that you provided.
21:36
But I want to ask you, you know, sometimes as the community rebuilds, right.
21:39
This next step, it's not always easy to find joy and energy to bounce back.
21:44
So for you, after all this destruction and loss
21:47
that you've seen throughout your career, how do you navigate that?
21:50
How do you get back to center?
21:51
What's an easy way for you to bounce back
21:54
from? It's just downtime.
21:56
Again, reflection and,
21:59
spending time out.
22:01
I really don't have a great outlet.
22:02
Now what do you do?
22:04
I mean, do you listen to music?
22:06
Do you meditate?
22:07
What what does this downtime consist of?
22:11
It's a little bit of everything.
22:12
It's just really just a calm and quiet.
22:16
Yeah, I wish I could say I was balanced.
22:20
Yeah.
22:21
From,
22:22
you know, you know, I think for, for me,
22:28
I'm just going to be honest.
22:29
I mean, reentry from a deployment is really tough for me.
22:32
It's hard for me to get back to the day to day work when you.
22:38
And when you feel like you've been involved in something
22:41
that's having so much impact.
22:43
And so, you know, going back to our day to day where I wouldn't say
22:47
we have impact at work, but it's it's maybe not as palpable.
22:52
It's not as immediate or obvious.
22:55
And so, for me, reentry
22:57
back into, normal life from a, coming from a deployment is really, really tough.
23:02
It's really tough.
23:04
So, I wish I could say I have a great outlet,
23:07
but honestly, for me, it's like just,
23:12
doing it ever again.
23:13
Yeah.
23:14
But, and preparing, I mean, for, we,
23:18
we learned so many things, and we've talked about this, we,
23:21
we learned so many things from each deployment
23:24
that I think makes us individually and as a team better.
23:27
And so going back and,
23:30
kind of putting those things together and how,
23:33
how do we, how are we better on our next deployment.
23:37
Are really the things that, that, that drive me.
23:39
I have a very hard time turning it off.
23:42
I really hard time turn it off. So,
23:45
Yeah, it's, I wish I had,
23:48
I don't know what downtime it's like.
23:50
Not a great case for that.
23:52
Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for your time.
23:54
Is there anything that we missed or any final words?
23:56
Yeah, I, I don't think so.
23:58
I mean, you're again, it's what's, what's really just been
24:02
evident to me is the sense of community within,
24:07
within the residents here.
24:08
And, we went to,
24:12
a community meeting,
24:14
the other night and listening, we sat at a table and listened to,
24:19
how everyone was talking about how we needed
24:22
to take care of each other than they need you to take care of each other.
24:25
It was really, really eye opening to me.
24:28
How, connected.
24:32
How connected everyone is to each other and to the land.
24:35
And, I think that just speaks to the culture here.
24:38
It's really something that, that that sticks with me.
24:43
and just,
24:44
just a great, great experience for us.
24:49
I agree, it coming from a place I feel like has a good sense of community.
24:54
This is incredibly strong.
24:56
I've never seen anything like it to have requests come in
24:59
and know that they were being taken care of even before you had a chance
25:03
to do anything community driven.
25:06
That was that was quite impressive to see.
25:09
So many things were done.
25:11
Well ahead of when we got here, again, it was just the opportunity
25:15
to kind of slide right in that and keep it moving.
25:19
And so seeing that, I think was a pretty incredible take away.
25:23
Well, thank you all for your time. Thank you.
25:25
And I know I speak on behalf of a lot of folks here,
25:28
on behalf of the entire city and county of one of the we're so grateful
25:31
that you are here.
25:32
And again, for the latest storm information, including resources
25:35
on relief and recovery, you can head over any time to one O'ahu dot org.
25:39
Mahalo for listening. And until next time, Aloha.