The Hawaiʻi County Fire Commission will select a new fire chief from six candidates this week.
Members of the public have the opportunity to testify before the fire commission at the start of the meetings on Thursday and Friday. The meetings start at 9 a.m. in the Hawaiʻi County Building Council Chambers in Hilo. Those interested in testifying can do so in person or remotely by Zoom on Thursday or Friday. The commission meetings will be livestreamed online.
According to the agenda, the fire commission will pose the same six questions to each candidate. Any interviews not completed on Thursday will finish on Friday. The commission will score the oral interview, written assessment and overall rating scale score sheets, vote on the finalists and announce the three finalists with the highest scores.
The new fire chief will succeed Fire Chief Kazuo S.K.L. Todd, 45, who died in December 2025.
“He served Hawaiʻi Island with humility, courage, compassion and unwavering dedication to public safety. His leadership, vision, and aloha touched countless lives across our island and beyond,” HFD and the Todd ʻohana shared in a joint statement last December.
Meet the candidates for the role
Stacy Domingo currently serves as the battalion chief of emergency communications at Hawaiʻi Fire Department. Domingo grew up in California watching “Emergency!” and decided that she wanted to be a fire paramedic, she said in a 2024 interview. While attending UH Hilo for marine biology, Domingo met Tracy Mayer, a fire/EMS specialist who encouraged her to apply for Hawaiʻi Fire Department. She’s been with the department for 22 years.
Domingo said she’s learned that everyone brings different strengths and perspectives to the department and advocated for the mental wellbeing of fire department personnel.
Michael Fine is a retired fire captain from the Ventura County Fire Department in Malibu, California. He currently lives in Waimea. Fine earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and worked at the Ventura County Fire Department for 22 years, according to LinkedIn. He was a member of the department’s Ocean Rescue Team.
Melanie Keolanui is the battalion chief of operations at Hawaiʻi Fire Department. She attended Hilo High School and played NCAA Division 1 volleyball at Creighton University in Nebraska, according to Hawaiʻi Business Magazine. Keolanui joined HFD in 2006 as a firefighter EMT before she was promoted to fire equipment operator in 2016. She is an assistant professor for EMT and paramedic programs at the Hawaiʻi Community College, and a CPR instructor. Keolanui is also an avid pickleball player.
Garrett Kim is a retired fire captain for Hawaiʻi Fire Department.
Kim joined HFD as a fire rescue specialist in May 2000 and went on to become a special operations chief and fire captain. He currently is an ambassador for the National FireFighter Registry for Cancer, is the Hawaiʻi State lead advocate for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and is the state director for the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, according to LinkedIn.
The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi named Kim firefighter of the year in March 2016 for obtaining funds and instructors for the Fire Department Fire Ground Survival Program, developing the department’s Firefighters Peer Fitness Program and raising awareness of cancer prevention.
Cole Thompson is a former battalion chief of the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District in New Mexico. Thompson was named the David B. Dewey Firefighter of the Year in May 2017. He served as an instructor at the Palomar College Fire Academy.
Daniel Volpe has been the temporary fire chief of the Hawaiʻi Fire Department since Kazuo’s death in December. Volpe graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2000 and moved to the island in 2003. In his more than 20 years at the department, he was served as a firefighter, fire medical specialist, battalion chief and deputy fire chief, according to Hawaiʻi County.
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
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