When Herman Andaya resigned his position as Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator amid criticism for his decision not to activate emergency sirens during the Maui wildfires, detractors cited his lack of direct and specific emergency management experience as a reason to question the county’s overall fitness to respond to the emergency.
On Friday, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen seemingly closed the credibility gap by calling on former Hawaii Fire Department chief and Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira to serve as an interim replacement for Andaya, whose official reason for leaving was “health reasons.”
“We are honored to have Darryl Oliveira step forward to serve Maui County’s community in this unprecedented disaster,” Mayor Bissen said. “His locally led response amid storms, fires, flooding and lava events, along with his pulse on the Neighbor Island community, demonstrate invaluable experience and skill during challenging times.
Oliveira took over day-to-day operations of the county’s emergency preparedness and response efforts, including the ongoing response to the wildfires, on Monday. His first day included a visit to Lahaina, prompting him to remark that the magnitude and impact of what the community has endured is hard to fathom.
“Looking back at past operations, the community has really stepped up out there to take care of themselves,” Oliveria said. “It’s not just the communities that are affected, the communities around them are coming together as well. I think that’s the strength we have in the islands with people coming together.”
While Andaya had extensive government experience, including service as the mayor’s chief of staff for 11 years and deputy director of the Department of Housing and Human Concerns, which included numerous interactions with the Emergency Operations Center, Oliveira’s extensive background in fire and emergency operations was emphasized as a unique strength by Bissen’s office.
As civil defense administrator, Oliveira directly oversaw Hawaii County’s mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery efforts for a variety of emergency and disaster events, including tropical storms and the 2014 Pahoa lava flow.
Prior to that, Oliveira spent 31 years in the Hawaii Fire Department, the last nine years as fire chief. At HFD, he gained extensive experience in the types of operations MFD firefighters and officials have engaged in fighting the Maui wildfires, including structural fire protection, wildland fire protection and suppression, and search-and-rescue operations.
Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.