A City Council resolution asking the administration to consolidate all ocean safety services and staff under one department ran into opposition and is being held for further investigation of details.

The measure urges the city administration to consider consolidating all ocean safety responsibilities, including those provided by the Honolulu Fire Department, under the Emergency Services Department’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division.

Resolution 16-181 was deferred Tuesday in the Council’s Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee after members and officials said staffing, training, funding and legal issues need to be further vetted.

Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, who introduced the resolution along with Councilman Ron Menor, said the intent is to start discussions about improving ocean safety services. Pine said some lifeguards and firefighters suggested the idea to her as a way to simplify the system.

The firefighters “wanted to focus really on what they do best, which is putting out fires and other types of emergency issues,” Pine said. “The lifeguards felt they had the most training to respond to ocean safety issues. I thought it was a worthy discussion.”

But Ian Santee, Emergency Services deputy director, expressed concerns over consolidating resources under his department.

The department’s Ocean Safety Division, with a $13.5 million operating budget for fiscal year 2017, employs 239 lifeguards who cover about 200 miles of coastline. The department has six watercraft — one each in Ala Moana and Waikiki, one in Waianae, two on the North Shore and two in East Oahu.

“It would be a very long, arduous process, but it would be something that we’re open to discussing,” Santee said, adding, “It’s not something that is going to happen overnight.”

HFD Chief Manuel Neves opposed the resolution, citing the City Charter mandate that directs his department to respond to emergencies “arising on hazardous terrain and on the sea.”

All of the department’s 1,126 firefighters are trained in basic water rescue skills. There are 352 firefighters trained in operating HFD’s 10 watercraft. Neves said firefighters respond in conjunction with the city’s lifeguards and will sometimes call the Coast Guard for additional assistance.

Of the Fire Department’s $127 million operating budget for fiscal year 2017, about $260,000 was allocated for its water programs, according to HFD.

When receiving ocean-related calls, there could be as many as 19 firefighters who initially respond, with searches on land and along the shoreline, Neves said. They can also use their rescue boat, dive team and helicopter for added support.

Of the more than 5,000 ocean-related calls in 2009, about 1,600 occurred outside the lifeguards’ working hours, which are typically from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Neves said. Lifeguard supervisors have the authority to extend those hours during high surf and other rough conditions.

“Everybody has a part,” Neves said. “The system works really well under the current management and leadership. It enhances the service that we provide to the community by having all of the entities at the scene.”

Pine had introduced another resolution that was adopted in March requesting the city extend lifeguard on-duty hours to from dawn to dusk. The department does not have a timeline for extending on-duty hours due to challenges such as staffing and funding issues, according to Santee.

Robert Lee, president of the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, supported the resolution and raised concerns about the safety of firefighters working on personal watercraft. He pointed to a June incident in which Clifford Rigsbee, a 21-year HFD veteran, died of injuries he sustained during a rescue watercraft training exercise near Diamond Head. Rigsbee was on a sled being towed by a watercraft when the operator looked back and saw him floating unconscious in the ocean. In written testimony, Lee also wrote that some firefighters have sustained serious injuries when operating the watercraft.

“We disagree, of course, with the administration that everything is working fine,” Lee said at the meeting. “When you look at the Ocean Safety people, almost 100 percent of their time is spent in the water. They’re very good and very proficient. They’re the experts in this field. We have great firefighters, but almost 100 percent of our time is on land and not in the water.”

Since HFD’s rescue watercraft program began in 2004, there have been 26 workers’ compensation claims filed, 18 of which did not result in loss of duty time, according to the department.

Pine said after the committee meeting that they will need to further vet the issues with the departments, adding that another option could be to move the Ocean Safety Division under the management of HFD, similar to other counties in Hawaii.