National Park Service to deploy American Samoa fire crew to Hawaii

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The National Park of American Samoa will be sending a crew of 6 members of the National Park Service Fire Crew from American Samoa today, Thursday, August 17 to respond to fires throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Crew members, Ronald Amperosa, Letufia Ili, Ramsey Malia, Emmitt Sua-Kalio, Pentateuch Vaki, and Anthony Wyberski will depart this evening for Hawaii.

In partnership with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the National Park of American Samoa trains staff and local villages in the skills required to fight fires at home and within other areas of the United States. To become wild land firefighters, this crew had to complete rigorous training and pass a demanding written and physical test.

In a press release issued yesterday, National Park Superintendent Scott Burch says, “The men and women that make up our fire crews are all exceptional people. The National Park of American Samoa Fire Crew is well known throughout the United States as a dedicated, hardworking and valuable asset to the national wild land fire response team.”

During the multi-week deployment, the crew will initially be mobilized to the Island of Hawaii.

Once the crew is tied in with the firefighters from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, they will be available to respond to new fires in Hawaii or mobilize to support large fires on the US Mainland.

In April 2023, Fire Management staff from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park visited the island to do physical fitness tests and fire crew recertification, ensuring that all fire crew were trained and in peak physical condition to report to duty if called upon. The fire crew is made up of National Park Service employees, and employees of the American Samoa Government and local businesses.

Local government agencies and businesses have wholeheartedly supported this effort by allowing some of their employees to be a part of the National Park Service fire crew and to be absent for this deployment for the next month

 “FEMA has activated Emergency Support Function 4 (Wildland Fire) in response to the wildfires in Lahaina, but it is unclear what the resource needs will be” says Greg Funderburk, Fire Management Officer at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

 “It is possible the Samoan crew could end up supporting Maui in their recovery effort, but not guaranteed.”