Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen on Friday announced the hiring of Darryl Oliveira, the former administrator of the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency, as the interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).

“We are honored to have Darryl Oliveira step forward to serve Maui County’s community in this unprecedented disaster,” Mayor Bissen said. “His locally-led response amid storms, fires, flooding and lava events, along with his pulse on the Neighbor Island community, demonstrate invaluable experience and skill during challenging times.

Effective Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, Oliveira will take over day-to-day operations of Maui County’s emergency preparedness and response efforts, including the response to the Maui wildfire disaster. He will be based out of the Maui County Emergency Operations Center.

Oliveria went to Lahaina today and said the magnitude and impact of what the community has endured is hard to fathom.

“Looking back at past operations, the community has really stepped up out there to take care of themselves,” Oliveria said. “It’s not just the communities that are affected, the communities around them are coming together as well. I think that’s the strength we have in the islands with people coming together.”

As the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense administrator, Oliveira directly oversaw the county’s mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery efforts for diverse emergency and disaster events, including tropical storms and the 2014 Pahoa lava flow.

Prior to serving as Hawaiʻi island’s civil defense administrator, Oliveira spent 31 years in the Hawaiʻi Fire Department, with the last nine years as chief of the Hawaiʻi Fire Department. He has extensive experience in structural fire protection, wildland fire protection and suppression, and search-and-rescue operations.

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County of Maui photo

Darryl Oliveira headshot attached