The Honolulu Fire Department asked the Budget Committee for funding to support apparatus replacement, station maintenance, training and dispatch upgrades in its FY 2026 proposal.

Chief Kalani Hall said the department’s FY 2026 proposal builds from the FY 2025 appropriation and includes targeted increases for equipment and readiness. “Our FY 25 appropriation at a hundred 50 6 million and our proposed at $1.59 for a total change of 3,800,000,” Hall said during his presentation.

Apparatus and capital requests

Hall told the committee the department is seeking funding for multiple pieces of major equipment, describing estimates of about $1.9 million for a standard engine and about $2.8 million for aerial apparatus in its planning figures. The FY 2026 CIP plan also lists requests for six engines, two aerials, a rescue boat and several support vehicles; Hall said multi‑year build times after the COVID‑era market disruptions require earlier budgeting and larger per‑unit planning.

Facilities and readiness

The department requested roughly $4.5 million in the budget for building and systems maintenance across stations, with projects including generator replacement, a Kaimuki station canopy and elevator modernization at headquarters. Hall emphasized disaster resilience in the station work: generators for key stations on the West Oʻahu coast and a Kaimuki station waterproofing project were presented as priorities to preserve communication and dispatch capabilities during outages.

Personnel, vacancies and overtime

Hall said the department’s authorized positions increased by two in the proposed budget and that the department was actively recruiting. He told the committee the vacancy count reported in a prior staff snapshot overstated gaps: the department’s internal count was lower after accounting for recruits in training. Hall also requested higher overtime appropriations than in prior years to cover historically observed overtime costs and across‑the‑board pay adjustments — he said overtime lines were outpaced by actual needs in recent cycles because premium pay increases had been applied to salary lines rather than the overtime line.

Training and equipment

The department also asked for a pump simulator for the training bureau; Hall said the simulator would reduce wear on front‑line apparatus used today for pump training and allow training without removing apparatus from service.

Ending

The fire chief said the FY 2026 request attempts to balance immediate readiness needs — station hardening and fleet renewal — with longer run replacement plans. Committee members asked for follow‑up on specific line items and requested more detail about vehicle replacement timing and the department’s vacancy reconciliation.