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The day of the fires started with a power outage and strong winds, said Ian Barnes, an ocean safety officer with Maui County. Little did Barnes know that the fires raging on the west side of Maui would get increasingly more destructive — and deadly — as the day progressed.
“I kept seeing the black smoke,” said Barnes, a Unit 15 member. “We felt this big wind shift and all of a sudden it got super hot.”
With the flames engulfing Lahaina, Barnes and his six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son evacuated to Napili for the night. In the days to come, he realized everything he had was lost.
Before the fire, Barnes “had trouble finding places to live, then I finally got that place I was at. I was only there not even a year. The unknown is hard to deal with sometimes.”
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Current contracts for all bargaining units expire on June 30, 2025. We encourage you to submit a contract proposal if there is something you would like your negotiating team to consider for the successor bargaining agreement beginning on July 1, 2025.
Proposals must be submitted no later than January 31, 2024.
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Maui County dispatchers took more than 4,500 calls to 911 on the day of the fires. The harrowing phone calls, often from distressed residents attempting to escape from the blaze, required heroic bravery from all nine dispatchers on duty (on average there are only four).
Melia Johnson, supervising emergency services dispatcher and Unit 4 member, told Hawaii News Now. “I looked around the room, and everyone … tears coming out of their eyes and still doing their job. There was no time to give up, walk away, take a break. None of that.”
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For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, visit www.hgea.org.
If you have specific inquiries, contact your local HGEA office or the HGEA Member Service Center at
(808) 543-0000 or service@hgea.org.
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HGEA News
Hawaii Government Employees Association
888 Mililani Street, Suite 401
Honolulu, HI 96813
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