New HFD Headquarters, Official Web Site for The City and County of Honolulu

THE NEW HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS

Until 1960, the Central Fire Station served as the HFD headquarters.

In 1960, the HFD moved its headquarters to the third floor of the Pawaa Police Station.

In 1991, the HFD moved into a 15,000 square foot office at the Airport Industrial Complex on Koapaka Street.

The HFD was paying approximately $36,000 per month ($432,000 annually) for rent. Conservatively, the HFD paid over $5,000,000 in rent over the past 15 years. The office at Koapaka Street did not provide enough usable space for the HFD's needs, its location was not central to other City administrative functions, and its location did not provide ease of egress for HFD vehicles.

In January 2000, the Department received approval from then Mayor Jeremy Harris to proceed with the planning and construction of the new HFD headquarters complex.

The new headquarters complex is located on the makai Ewa corner of the intersection of South and Queen Streets and is bounded by the Royal Brewery building to the north, Queen Street to the east, South Street to the south, and Quinn Lane to the west. The total land area is 69,833 square feet or 1.603 acres. The complex includes a 31,750 square foot headquarters building, renovation of the historic Kaka'ako Fire Station into a working HFD museum, renovation and repair of the existing Kaka'ako Fire Station (which houses Engine 9 and Tower 9), and development of a 75-stall parking lot.

The new office building is 31,750 square feet and 56' high. The three-story structure is set back from South and Queen Streets per development standards of the Kaka'ako Community Development Mauka Area Plan. The structure is steel-framed and was erected on a poured-in-place concrete foundation and topped with a hipped standing seam metal roof similar in appearance to the historic neighboring Kaka'ako Fire Station. It houses the HFD's Office of the Fire Chief and its four administrative divisions. It includes an auditorium, four conference rooms, an executive conference room, a physical fitness room, and an emergency operations center. The new HFD headquarters will serve as a new technology test bed for other Honolulu City and County departments. Several state-of-the-art technologies will be implemented at the new headquarters such as Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, smart card secure access, and free space optical (FSO) communications.

New Honolulu Fire Department Headquarters
The New HFD Headquarters Nearing Completion on March 16, 2006

An Artist's Rendering of the Completed HFD Headquarters

Architect: Urban Works, Inc.
Contractor: Okada Trucking, Ltd.
Project Manager: City and County of Honolulu, Department of Design and Construction
Estimated Cost: $15.5 million
Official name: Hale Kinai Ahi, which means "fire house" in Hawaiian. The wording comes directly from the original 1851 ordinance printed in Hawaiian, which established the Honolulu Fire Department.

The historic Kaka'ako Fire Station was occupied on October 1, 1929, by Engine Company Number 9. In 1930, a hook and ladder building was constructed. It housed a ladder truck for 20 years and was then converted to serve as a kitchen until the new Kaka'ako Fire Station was built in 1973. In 1931, the maintenance shop building was added. The ladder building and maintenance shop were not part of the new project.

Renovation and restoration work for the historic Kaka'ako Fire Station complies with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. In 1979, the Kaka'ako Fire Station was nominated to the Hawaii and National Registers of Historic Places for its architectural and social/humanitarian significance. The station was placed on the Hawaii Register of Historic Places in July 1980 and on the National Register in December 1980.

After ceasing its protective function in 1973, the historic Kaka'ako Fire Station continued to be used for other activities. The building used to house the Honolulu Ballet in the mid- to late-1970s. More recently, the ground floor has been used for general storage. The main building measures 55 x 58 feet (3,190 square feet) and is 36' high. The 16-foot square hose tower at the rear of the main building is approximately 60' high.

The existing Kaka'ako Fire Station was built in 1973 to replace the historic Kaka'ako Fire Station as an operational fire station. The two-story, 24' high, and 6,648 square foot station is constructed of poured-in-place concrete. A hose tower at the rear of the station is approximately 37' high. Thirty fire fighters on three different platoons occupy the station, which houses Engine 9, Tower 9, and an aerial ladder truck.