It’ll be a night to hear of rescues, dangerous maneuvers and live music to help raise money for Hawaii County Fire Department personnel. ADVERTISING It’ll be a night to hear of rescues, dangerous maneuvers and live music to help raise
It’ll be a night to hear of rescues, dangerous maneuvers and live music to help raise money for Hawaii County Fire Department personnel.
The event is the 18th annual Daniel Robert Sayre Memorial Foundation award ceremony Sept. 5 at the Fairmont Orchid in Waikoloa.
The event will honor 14 fire department personnel “for meritous service above and beyond the call of duty,” according to the group.
The organization was begun by Dr. Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre in honor of their son, Danny. He died while hiking in Pololu Valley in 1997 and it took 10 hours and risky piloting to recover his body. The couple raises money to help the fire department purchase equipment the county cannot afford.
The foundation has raised more than $2 million since it began. It has spent that money on training, equipment and supplies for departments around the island, including the purchase of two small watercraft for use at Hapuna and Punaluu beaches. Beyond the cost of the machines came a training program for everyone who might use one. They hope to get a unit at each lifeguard station, Mallery-Sayre said.
A donation also lead to the purchase a public address system at both large beaches. Mallery-Sayre said the water safety officers have told her “innumerable lives have been saved.” This is because they can now spread a safety message across the entire beach, instead of solely around the lifeguard stations, she said.
There will be two auctions. One will be a silent auction, with the cash used as needed. The other will be a live auction where there will be bids on items the department has requested.
“If you spend $30 for a dive knife, you can be sure the fire department will spend it on a dive knife,” she said.
The full list of requested items comes to $32,066.78, ranging from personal gear bags to rescue boards.
Many of the foundation’s purchases now are to replace aging equipment, she said. That includes several new automatic external defibrillators and rappelling harnesses.
The silent auction includes international trips, a cruise, coffee and more.
The honored personnel are captains Michael Andrade and Charles Spain, fire equipment operator David Mahon, fire rescue specialists Dustin Frechette, Riley Young, Lyle Tamaribuchi, Carle Pires; firefighters Yurik Resetnikov and Tay Soares, water safety officer Jason Nixon, fire medical specialist 2 Bertram Carvalho Jr., fire equipment operator Donald Awa, fire battalion chief Michael Hayashida, and fire inspector Palani Kurashige.
The event begins at 4:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 p.m.
Registrations ends Sunday on the organization’s website, http://DanielSayreFoundation.net.
