(BIVN) – Chas Taketa was named Firefighter of the Year by the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi, which awarded the honor at a special dinner ceremony on Monday night in Hilo.

According to a Hawaiʻi County media release:

In July 2018, [Taketa] voluntarily transitioned from Station 14 where he worked as a Paramedic attached to Medic 14 and Chopper 2 to the Training Bureau. There he prepared for the latest Recruit Class by developing the physical Training curriculum and scheduled much of the coursework for the class. This was a hands-on process that he took upon himself to do the workouts that he was prescribing for the Recruit Class prior to putting the recruits through their paces.

On August 16, 2018, the 46th Recruit Class commenced with the recruits being welcomed to the Hawaiʻi Fire Department. FMS Taketa was responsible for structuring and scheduling the training sessions as well as leading the classroom instruction. In order to accomplish this, he periodically worked early and often stayed well past the duty day to ensure he was prepared for the following day’s training session.

His dedication to the Department in his role as Recruit Training Officer has had a positive impact on the next generation of Firefighters and is evident in the progress the recruits have made under his guidance in addition to the respect they have for their instructor.

During the same event, the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi also presented their Annual Police Officer of the Year award to Officer Daniel Tam.