Hawaii County has received applications from 13 individuals it says are conditionally qualified to be the next chief of the Hawaii Fire Department.

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Hawaii County has received applications from 13 individuals it says are conditionally qualified to be the next chief of the Hawaii Fire Department.

Those 13 have been culled from 33 applicants, county Human Resources Director Sommer Tokihiro told the Fire Commission on Thursday during its May meeting at the County Council Chambers in Hilo.

According to Tokihiro, before candidate interviews can be conducted by the panel, the requirement of a one-year continual residency in Hawaii will have to be verified.

Tokihiro told commissioners her department will draft a letter to the 13 applicants. She said the letter “will include a seven-day time frame in which the applicant can provide the verification in the form of a bank statement, utility bill, real property tax documentation, rental agreement, etc.”

She also said the 20 applicants who didn’t meet the minimum qualifications will be sent a letter notifying them of that fact.

“After the seven-day time frame to provide the verification is completed, HR will review the verification information received and make a determination regarding whether or not the applicant meets the residency requirement,” Tokihiro testified. “Based on that determination, those 13 applicants will be provided a notice that indicates that either they meet the qualifications and their name has been referred to the commission for review, or that they do not meet the minimum qualifications.”

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Commissioners voted 5-0, with three members absent and excused and one seat vacant, to form a permitted interaction group to formulate the questions for the candidate interviews. The group would be helmed by the commission chairman, retired HFD Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki.

The names of the applicants have not been made public. It’s unclear whether the names of those who’ll be offered interviews will be revealed in the next commission meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. June 25 at the council chambers at West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona.

The ongoing search was necessitated by the unexpected death on Dec. 14 of Chief Kazuo Todd from an aneurysm.

In an item labeled “new business” on the agenda, Temporary Fire Chief Daniel Volpe provided few previously unreported details about a fire truck from the Pahala station that hit an embankment and turned over on its left side May 15 on Highway 11 in Ka‘u, blocking the highway and necessitating its removal by crane.

Volpe did confirm, however, previously unconfirmed reports that “to the best of our knowledge … the right front tire blew out.” He also confirmed that the truck’s driver, a fire equipment operator who was taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center in serious condition, had been released from the hospital and will return to work.

“Fortunately — very, very fortunately — he was not significantly injured,” Volpe said.

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Email John Burnett at [email protected].