A Maui Fire Department veteran has been named the new head of the county’s Emergency Management Agency, more than four months after a previous administrator stepped down amid criticism over his handling of devastating wildfires.
Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, currently president of Waihona Emergency & Training Consultants, will assume the post Monday, Mayor Richard Bissen announced Friday.
MEMA, which is responsible for disaster planning and preparation and coordinating emergency management operations and post-disaster recovery efforts, has been under interim leadership since Herman Andaya resigned in mid-August.
Lonokailua-Hewett served for 25 years with the Maui Fire Department before retiring in 2019 as a battalion chief, according to a county statement.
He also was the head of the department’s training division and was credited for developing a program using live fires for training and a ground operations program. The county said he was the first instructor and a program director in the state’s program providing incident command and control certification for fire officers.
“Amos is deeply committed to our community’s well-being,” Bissen said in the statement. “His extensive history with the Maui Fire Department and the emergency management profession, combined with his experience with our Maui County emergency operating center will contribute greatly to strengthening our emergency management efforts”
“Our county will benefit from his leadership, expertise and professionalism,” Bissen said.
The county had been searching for a new permanent administrator since Andaya’s abrupt departure, which he blamed on “health reasons,” after he came under criticism over the Aug. 8 fires that destroyed much of Lahaina and killed at least 100 people.
Andaya faced questions about his qualifications for the job and performance during the disaster. He stepped down a day after coming under intense scrutiny for telling reporters at an Aug. 16 press conference that he didn’t regret his decision not to sound civil defense sirens to warn people to evacuate Lahaina.
Bissen then appointed Darryl Oliveira, a former Big Island fire chief and civil defense administrator, to be interim MEMA administrator for three months. He stepped down after his contract expired in late November.
The role was then temporarily filled by staff specialist Joshua Aquinde, a Hawaii Army National Guard commander.
Fifteen people applied for the administrator’s position by the Nov. 14 deadline, and they were whittled down to a short list of five earlier this month, county officials said.
The job listing included a monthly pay range of $7,682 to $10,955 — approximately $92,184 to $131,460 a year.
Lonokailua-Hewett was born on Oahu and raised on Maui, according to the statment. It said he is fluent in the Hawaiian language and has practiced hula for 32 years.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in fire administration in 2017 and a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis on emergency services management in 2019 from the online Columbia Southern University.
On his LinkedIn page, Lonokailua-Hewett said he also studied graphic design at the University of Hawaii Manoa from 1989 to 1992 and graduated from Maui High School.
He described himself as having “a passion for personnel development in the form of education, certification and training.”
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