Ken Silva - One mission, many chapters
Ken, being sworn in as the 33rd Honolulu Fire Chief in 2006
A Life of Service...
Answering the first call
“I wouldn't be a firefighter—let alone Fire Chief—if my mom hadn’t quietly saved her tips to fly me home for the HFD exam.” —Ken Silva
When Ken Silva stood at City Hall during his change of command ceremony as the newly named Fire Chief of the Honolulu Fire Department, he didn’t talk about personal achievements. Instead, he honored his mother.
“She brought me home when I couldn’t afford to come myself. That one act of love launched everything,” Ken said, reflecting on his 31-year career of service—a career that would include rescuing lives, leading a nationally accredited fire department and heading major disaster responses.
where the journey began
A mother’s quiet sacrifice lights the path to a lifelong calling.
Ken Silva’s life of service began with a dream and a mom who believed in him.
“I had a friend's dad that was a firefighter. So it interested me.”
After graduation, Ken left Hawai‘i to play college football at Foothill Junior College in California, where he joined a team that included several fellow Kamehameha Schools alumni. While there, he heard the Honolulu Fire Department was holding its entrance exam. He didn’t want to miss it so he called home—but his dad didn’t think they could afford a ticket back.
His mom, a coffee shop waitress, quietly started saving her tips and surprised him with a plane ticket. Ken flew home, took the test, stayed at a friend’s house and headed back to school without his dad ever knowing.
Years later, at his swearing-in ceremony as Fire Chief, Ken honored his mom.
“I wouldn’t be here if my mom hadn’t done that,” he reflected. “That one act of kindness—her saving up those tips—kickstarted my career.”
Family by his side, Ken is sworn in as Honolulu’s Fire Chief in 2006.
Hard Work, Heart Work: Ken’s RISE Through HFD
He was 18.
“And then I came back to UH and then I get a little postcard in the mail and it said, hey, are you still interested in being in the fire department?” he recalled.
After getting the call to join the recruit academy, Ken jumped right in. He put college on hold to complete the five-month training, then started full-time as a firefighter—all while finishing his degree and working as a bellman in Waikiki.
“There was a stretch where I worked 90 hours a week,” he said. “For three years, I only had three days off. I just kept my head down and went to work.”
That relentless drive paid off. He went back to UH for his Master’s Degree, and moved quickly up the ladder—from engineer to captain to battalion chief and assistant chief—eventually becoming Fire Chief in 2006. At every rank, he was one of the youngest ever promoted.
He said, “I've always believed that what you put in, you get out, and it doesn't matter what it is, right? It could be your education. It could be your work. It could be pickleball.”
But even with his rising responsibilities, Ken never lost sight of what mattered most.
When the call came that he’d been named Fire Chief, his wife was picking up their daughter from soccer practice, Ken told the Star-Bulletin. “I reheated leftovers and helped my son with his math quiz. I’m a career firefighter, but I’m also a dad and husband.”
Ken Silva quoted
Stepping into the Fire Chief role is a big commitment. What made you want to take that on?
I would say that becoming the fire chief is something that you really have to think about. It's a commitment. It's 24/7 and it doesn't only affect you--it's also a family decision as well...you cannot be half in, you have to be all in.
And I would think for anybody that wants to take on that role and responsibility, it's because they care about their community. They want to do a good job for their department. I think that's how it was for me.
And then I think we have a window of relevancy when we're in a position like that. It doesn't matter if you're a CEO of a company or the head of a government agency, we have a period of relevancy, where we can make an impact in our job. So you want to do the very best you can for that time period.
I was the fire chief for just about seven years and I say kind of tongue in cheek, but it's kind of like dog years. It goes by fast, but it also goes by slow. So it's the equivalent of 49 years out of your life---seven years for every year of service.
But you know, I feel fortunate. I had 31 years of service and I really mean it when I say it to folks that I enjoyed every single day that I had on the job. Some days more than others, but I have no regrets and I feel so blessed and so fortunate that I was able to work in the fire department to help keep our community safe, to meet so many great people.
What a blessing it was for me.
What were some of your biggest challenges and while you were in leadership at HFD?
You know, a lot of times the challenge is not the technical. We train for the technical---how to respond to incidents, whether it's fires, medical emergencies, hazardous materials, terrorist issues, what have you.
It's going to be the intangible, the ones that you don't really have a lot of training for and you have to understand what it is. And I would say it even transcends into the workforce, especially today. How do you manage a workforce that's evolving? So the old style, you know, was that it's command and control. I tell you what to do and you do it. No questions asked. In my career, we got to the point where people were asking questions and you have to understand how to evolve your leadership and management style for that.
leading through the unthinkable
Screenshots from KHON 2's special report last year about Sacred Falls, 25-years post tragedy
The Sacred Falls tragedy—and the leadership lessons that shaped a chief.
📍 What Happened at Sacred Falls?
I haven't talked about it in years, but it was a day like any other. You had probably about 300 people that were at the falls on Mother's Day. And the witnesses after the fact when we had pieced everything together, all they heard was rumbling from up high. And then it was a cascading effect of rocks that had fallen from a height. Some as big as Volkswagens. And people started just mass evacuation. Many got hurt. Many died. (Eight people died and 33 were injured). It was just that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you know, they haven't opened the falls up since then.
Ken, then a battalion chief, was one of the first on scene.
He recalls, “so as this thing was unfolding, I had all my captains with me and the captain from the closest fire station to Sacred Falls was with me. So I had him jump in the vehicle, and we worked our way down there. And when we got there, as we drove up to the trailhead, it was like we were witnessing a war movie. People that had self evacuated that had cuts and bruises and blood and mud and dirt and everything else.”
When asked about a defining moment in his career, Ken spoke about Sacred Falls. He said, “we were fortunate in that we had a lot of training in the incident command system. So putting together a coordinated response was something that we got to see in a large scale in real time. But we had a number of people that had died and a number of our first responders, our firefighters, that were exposed to mass trauma for a prolonged time.
And what we did learn was, how do we care for our people after the fact?”
A stand for safety
As Fire Chief, Ken never shied away from tough conversations—especially when it came to pushing for a consumer fireworks ban in Honolulu. It wasn’t popular, but he knew it was necessary.
This all became heartbreakingly clear on New Year’s Eve this past year, when a fireworks explosion killed six people---including a 3-year-old boy—and more than 20 people were seriously injured. Several had to be flown to the mainland for critical burn treatment.
It was the deadliest fireworks-related tragedy in recent memory—exactly the reason why Ken fought so hard for change.
Although the ban he helped pass remains in place today, enforcement has proven to be incredibly difficult. Illegal fireworks still flood neighborhoods every New Year’s, and the challenges of policing fireworks have made the law’s effectiveness limited. Still, the foundation Ken helped lay has kept safety at the forefront of public conversations—and underscores the vital need for continued efforts to protect Hawaii’s communities.
“When we pushed for the ban, we knew it wasn’t just about noise—it was about safety,” Ken said.
“One tragic moment can change a life forever. If we can prevent that, we should.”
Ken with the late Senator Daniel Inouye
serving without a badge
Red Cross, ministry, and the calling to keep showing up for others.
Ken retired from HFD in 2012 after 31 years—but he didn’t slow down. He stepped right into another leadership role as Chief Operating Officer for the American Red Cross Hawaii Chapter, helping expand its regional reach across the Pacific.
After a lifetime of service, a moment of celebration—Ken and his family at his HFD retirement.
Not long after, longtime friend Pastor Wayne Cordeiro asked him to join the team at New Hope Oahu. Ken said no at first.
“I told him I just wanted to come to church—I didn’t want to peek behind the curtain,” he joked. But when Wayne asked again, Ken agreed, and he spent over six years as a staff pastor.
Today, he’s still at it. Ken serves as Chair of the Honolulu Police Commission, volunteers with his church, and leads the Honolulu Firefighters Foundation, which he co-founded while Fire Chief.
The foundation pledges $25,000 a year to the Straub Burn Unit, provides financial support to families of fallen firefighters, and funds community-building events like HFD family days and museum programs.
Game On: One Third Shot Drop (Drive!?) at a Time
Ken played multiple sports in high school, went on to play football and wrestle in college, and throughout his years in the fire department, staying physically fit was simply part of the job. Even after retiring, he stayed close to the ocean—paddling canoe and surfing regularly as a longtime member of the Outrigger Canoe Club, often getting out on the water five days a week.
It was during that stretch, living in Kaneohe, that he first heard about pickleball. Curious, he and his wife decided to swing by the district park one Sunday after church to check it out. The courts were packed. Ken immediately spotted a retired firefighter playing, and he invited him to join in.
That’s how it all started for Ken.
He got his first paddle as a Christmas gift in 2021. A few months later, he entered his first tournament—and won gold in both men’s and mixed 55+ 3.5.
He admitted, “once I started playing, I can see how you can go down that rabbit hole. Then it was like, oh, I better balance this thing. So I've been playing for a couple of years now. I probably only got serious about it maybe, in the last six months or so.“
Now, he plays 3–4 times a week, trains with partners, and watches what his wife lovingly calls “way too much pickleball YouTube.” He rotates between the Mod TA and J2K Pro paddles, and at the time of our conversation, had been gearing up for the APP Sacramento Open.
“I’d describe my game as evolving,” he said. “There’s always more to learn—and that’s what keeps me coming back.”
Favorite pickleball shot? 3rd shot drive
Worst pickleball habit you’re trying to break?
Not warming up properly before matches
If you could play doubles with any pro, who would it be?
Jaume
Best piece of advice you've ever received (pickleball or life)?
Be patient
One thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I prefer surfing over any other sport
Favorite local food spot on Oahu? Outrigger Canoe Club
Favorite morning beverage? One cup of coffee
Morning person or night owl? Morning for sure
Q+A
What do you love about pickleball?
I think the reason for its popularity is it's a every person's game. You can be young, you can be old, and you can play. You can play at the level that you want. If you want to be a rec player, or if you want to be a tournament player, you can pursue that. And it can also be very social. And so I think it fulfills a lot of things that people, people like, and that's how they get attracted to the sport.
What are your goals in pickleball?
I'd like to get serious this year. I'd like to make more time. I'd like to get to nationals and try to do something there. And I also know that, you know, pickleball is an evolution that you have to expose yourself and you're going to take some knocks and get beat up a little bit. But if you work hard, then hopefully you can advance.
Are there goals you're pursuing outside of pickleball?
We want to make sure that our family is healthy and happy. I have two kids and been very blessed that they're both successful. I joke that we want our kids to be happy and successful and we want to get them off of our payroll.
Anything else on your mind?
I think I would encourage those that have been watching from a distance, wanting to try pickleball and maybe a little nervous. Everybody starts the same way, right? But to just jump in and to find a group that you can initially play with and just get your feet wet, because once you start playing, it's just, it's such a beautiful sport.
What would you say to someone who says pickleball isn’t a real sport?
I would say that was me. I said, “Pickleball? Come on. That's not a sport.” And I tell this story---the first time I went to play pickleball, I didn't even bring water with me. And I ended up playing for three and a half hours. And I was totally wiped out because I was dehydrated. I was exhausted.
I say, this thing can check off a lot of boxes. If you want to be competitive, you can be as competitive as you want. If you want to be recreational, you can be recreational. If you want to find and make friends, absolutely. So it checks all the boxes.
Ken, with his doubles partner, David Sumabat, at the ESPN Honolulu Tournament
Ken jokes that he’s “retired, retired, retired”—each retirement simply leading to another form of service. From the fire department to the Red Cross, to ministry, and now to volunteer work, he’s never really stopped showing up. “I don’t get paid for anything I do now,” he said. “I just volunteer my time.”
For someone so deeply rooted in community—and who lives with such a sense of gratitude and service—it’s no surprise. “I’ve been so blessed in this community,” he added. “You want to give back.”
And that’s the thread running through it all—Ken never stopped answering the call.
0-0-start. What’s next?
