By Tasha Mero

HONOLULU — Reid Yoshida lives a life of dedication and service. Yoshida has had a long career with the Honolulu Fire Department, spanning 14 years. However for the past six years, Yoshida has been determining the causes of fires under the Fire Investigation section of the H.F.D.

Before Yoshida became involved within the Fire Investigation section, Yoshida was a fire respondent. Curious about how investigators were able to determine the causes of fires is what sparked Yoshida’s interest in this particular field. “I saw fire investigators working after I was done putting out the fire and I wondered, ‘How could they make a determination of how the house burned down?’” Yoshida recalls. “The systematic method of narrowing [and] looking at all things, potential ignition sources, [and] trying to come up with one probable cause was interesting to me.”

In January 2014 Yoshida was promoted to captain of the Fire Investigation section. Using the scientific method, Yoshida is able to determine the origin of fires. “We base it off of evidence [and] fire patterns that we find at the scene,” Yoshida explains. “We take all the circumstances and knowledge of our experience that we’ve gathered and we apply it to this method.”

There is no doubt that Yoshida really loves what he does. “I feel like what [fire investigators] do makes a difference for the community,” he explains. Being able to help others is one of the most satisfying aspects of Yoshida’s job. “I love the fire department and I love helping people,” Yoshida says. “[In] this line of work, you need to have passion to want to help people. That’s important-to have that passion and to have compassion for people and life.”

This article was originally published in HILuxury Magazine. (Click to view the entire article).