Airports It’s the Final Aloha to Fire Chief Scott Pires
By: Brian Kamimoto
At the close of business day on May 31, Maui District Airport Fire Chief Scott Pires is retiring after 29 years with the ARFF department.
Airport’s emergency plan.
Thus, begins a new chapter in Scott’s journey and certainly not the end of the story or his destination.
In 2021, night medevac exercises by AMR/REACH and the United State Coast Guard helicopters.
When asked to list any milestones in his career, he cited the ARFF 1003 program. “We developed the training curriculum and accreditation with the Pro Board and delivered it to recruit classes that were incorporated into a first ever joint State and County recruit program,” said Pires.
Under his tenure, ARFF offered CPR, First Aid and Stop the Bleed classes to all departments under the Airports, and sister departments that included Highways, Harbors and DLNR.
During Chief Pires’ tenure, community service played a very important role, in both his personal and professional life. Chief led by example and left his mark on the patients and residents of Kalaupapa with his generosity.
Fire extinguisher training, and live burn training to firefighters from Pacific was also instituted.
It’s a little-known fact outside of Kalaupapa, but for the past couple of Thanksgivings, he cohosted dinner for all patients and residents. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, 45 Costco rotisserie chicken plus fresh fruits and a special run of dark chocolate and Kalaupapa sea salt made by Maui Specialty Chocolates were flown in. Last year the number grew to 90 rotisserie chicken and almost 200 Spam musubi’s. Kalaupapa’s emergency management services also benefitted under Chief Pires.
Chief Pires holds up the many accolades and awar ds during his service with DOT.
Chief Pires built networking relationships with National Parks, US Coast Guard, US Coast Guard auxiliary, private helicopter companies with the ability to move things between islands with expediency. Scott’s airport firefighting career began in 1993 when he was hired as a Firefighter II. In 1996, Scott was promoted to AFEO and assigned to Kapalua Airport until 1998. In 1998, Scott was promoted to Lieutenant and stationed at Molokai Airport until 2007, when he transferred to Kahului Airport in 2008.
In January 2020, 25 participants from various agencies, test key elements of Kalaupapa
See PIRES RETIREMENT page 5 PAGE 4
