Officer Joseph Passmore, an 11-year police veteran, was named the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii’s Officer of the Month for October.
Officer Joseph Passmore, an 11-year police veteran, was named the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii’s Officer of the Month for October.
The award is based on the compassion and professional commitment he demonstrated in assisting a family who experienced a tragic house fire.
On Sept. 9, Passmore responded to a residential fire in a Volcano subdivision. Upon arrival, he observed a house completely engulfed in flames. Passmore immediately approached to determine if anyone was still in the residence and subsequently located two children and a male adult in an ambulance nearby.
He learned that the children had escaped the fire uninjured but the father had been severely burned. The man was rushed to the hospital and later flown to the Straub Burn Center on Oahu, where he succumbed to his injuries within the following weeks.
Having lost all their possessions with no place to stay, Passmore offered to take the mother and children to his own home to stay with his family. Passmore assisted the traumatized mother in arranging a more permanent place for the family to stay and have their needs met.