VULCAN FRONT LINES

Former Vulcan tennis player Kevin Tamura no doubt had his share of saving set or match points during his UH HIlo playing career from 2007-10.

Now, as a Fire Hazardous Materials Specialist at the Hilo Kaumana Fire Station, he occasionally has to save lives. 

Hilo native Tamura is the latest subject of the UH Hilo athletics VULCAN FRONT LINES series. The Waiakea High School graduate (2006) literally fits the narrative of Hometown Hero.

Born and raised in Hilo, where his parents Gerry and Sheila and older brother (Sean) still live, Tamura was the 2005 BIIF singles champ at Waiakea. He moved across the street to study Business Administration and play tennis at UH Hilo, where he manned the No. 1 singles position as a senior and No. 1 doubles for most of his college career. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in the NCAA West Region in doubles (junior year) with his partner Laurent Columbo.

He met his wife Crystal Motomura in intermediate school. Crystal also graduated from UH Hilo with a Psychology degree and now teaches second grade at Keaau Elementary School.

Tennis is a tough game, mentally and physically. But as grueling as a three-set match in the Hawaii heat and humidity can be, a 24-hour shift at the fire station that could include emergency medical and hazardous materials situations, is a whole different level of tough.

Tamura has worked for the Hawai`i Fire Department for six years. His responsibilities as a firefighter include responding to a variety of emergency calls that involve fires in structures, brush, and vehicles.  "We also respond to medical emergencies and motor vehicle accidents," he said.  In addition to regular firefighting duties, his station specializes in hazardous materials emergencies. 

"If there is a hazardous materials emergency on the east side of the island, it is our job as a company to respond to it and help to mitigate the emergency situation," he explained. "In general, our job as firefighters is to help and keep the community safe as best as we can."

A majority of their calls to action are medical, so yes, life saving does come into play. "Performing CPR when a patient's heart stops is part of what we often have to do."

On a day-to-day basis they respond to a variety of emergency calls.  "If we are not responding to emergencies you can find us doing things like company drills and training sessions," he added. "Those range from firefighting, medical emergencies,  hazardous materials emergencies,  use of equipment and tools, and also department policies and procedures.  We also perform routine duties like cleaning and maintaining the station and our fire apparatus, all the equipment we use.  We usually use our down time to self study or workout to stay in shape.  We work a 24-hour shift from 8 to 8, so we just have to be ready for anything at any time during our shift."

Tamura maintains that some lessons that he learned on the tennis court and as a student at UHH translate to what he is doing now. 

"To be honest, now that I look back at my time at UHH, being a student athlete was amazing and fun but also tough at times," he recalled.  "Back then, you're just in the moment trying to survive and do the best that you can.  You have to be able to balance academics, athletics and your social life day in and day out at a different level then what you were used to in high school.  After it's all said and done, when you look back on it, you can be proud of the hard work you put into everything. 

"And that hard work and effort translates to my job today.  As a firefighter, you are sometimes in situations where someone's life is in your hands, and the more hard work and effort you put into your job can really help the outcome of those kinds of situations."  

Tamura's coach at UH Hilo was current Associate Athletic Director Kula Oda. "Coach Kula was an amazing coach and an even more amazing person," he recalled. "During a time when the program could have been cut for financial reasons, he worked super hard to keep our program alive along with huge help from the tennis community. Who knows what I would have done if the tennis program got cut? For that I will always be grateful for Coach Kula and the tennis community for allowing us to continue to play tennis for UHH."

Tamura is also grateful that some of Oda's cool demeanor rubbed off on him, as a player and person.

"Tennis can be a really frustrating sport mentally, and the majority of the time it's just you on the court with your emotions going up and down throughout the match," Tamura explained. "So to have a coach that's so calm and collected talk to you, really helps calm you down.  Those values that Coach Oda exhibited really helped me become the firefighter I am today.  To be willing to lend a helping hand whenever possible while staying calm, especially in a stressful situation, are things that I carry with me to this day."

Playing tennis at Hawaii Hilo, as a part of a team with players from around the world, helped him learn how to work with all kinds of people.

"Being a student-athlete allowed me to meet so many amazing people from literally around the world that I became friends with," he said. "The same goes for the Fire Department. We are like a giant family.  It's like a brotherhood/sisterhood and you meet so many different people when you work at different stations and on different shifts.  I feel like my UHH family really helped me learn how to create great relationships like I have now in the department."

Now 31-years-old, does this former Vulcan still play tennis?

"I do still play tennis once in a while," he laughed.  "Not seriously anymore, just to get a good cardio workout. If not tennis, I'll usually run or swim and weight lift to stay in shape."

Staying in shape now has a different end-game goal than it did on the tennis courts of Hawaii and California during his college days. "You need to be ready mentally and physically for whatever is next," he summarized. "You never know what each day will bring in the fire department. Same in tennis. You just have to ready."