By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

On his good days, Capt. Charlie Iwata drives down to his station house to visit his crew. On his bad days, he can't do much of anything.

Iwata is only 44, and until last fall, was the picture of health — a 17-year veteran of the Maui Fire Department, in good shape, never smoked.

Then he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Last week, he got more bad news: The medicine he has been taking isn't working. The cancer has spread.

Among Maui firefighters planning to strut their stuff at a fashion show July 9 at the Wailea Marriott Hotel are, from left, Ben Bland IV, Capt. Jeff Murray, Roger Agdeppa and Patrick Shipman. The benefit is to help pay medical expenses for one of their colleagues, Charlie Iwata, who is battling lung cancer. Photo courtesy Denise Laitinen

But firefighters are trained to band together in a crisis, to take bold action and put aside fear.

So, taking a page from "The Full Monty" and "Calendar Girls," they're putting on a fashion show to raise money for Iwata's medical bills.

Iwata doesn't quite know what to say about the whole thing.

"It's pretty funny," he says. "I don't know if the guys were forced into it or what."

But over and over again, the bashful yet determined would-be models tell him, "Anything for you, Charlie. Anything."

Iwata's condition cannot be treated by chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. He's pinning his hopes on getting into a clinical trial for an experimental procedure on the Mainland. Right now, he's waiting for word on his acceptance. Two months ago, doctors told him he had six months to live.

Iwata doesn't allow himself to think "why me?" In his 17 years in the Fire Department, he saw plenty of bad things happen to good people for no apparent reason. He knows that's just how life goes sometimes

"The way I look at it, there are so many people out there who are way worse off than I am," Iwata says. "I can't sit back and feel sorry for myself or be mad. When I see the kids really suffering, no hair and going through chemo and stuff, they're the ones who are having a hard time. For me, it's like, ah, I'm not suffering like that. I don't have any pain. Everything is happening to my lungs, but I can deal with it. And my faith is strong."

He also knows he isn't in this alone.

"The guys will stop by and it always brings a smile to my face. It gives me the strength to wake up every morning and fight every day. There are so many people who are right behind me. So I'm running."

In May, Iwata's friends organized a benefit golf tournament to raise money for his medical treatment. "We were amazed at the support," Kihune says. "We made twice what we had hoped to make." When all was totaled, they collected more than $35,000 for Iwata.

The best part of that day was that Charlie got to be there.

"He was tired, but he made it through the end of the day," says Iwata's brother-in-law John Tajima. "He got to see everybody, he got to greet everybody. We took him around on a golf cart, took pictures. It was good day. That was a good day for Charlie."

The benefit fashion show is being put together by a committee made up of firefighters and Maui police officers, hence the theme of the event: "Guns and Hoses."

"We don't tell Charlie what we're planning at our committee meetings because we know he wouldn't want all this attention on him," Kihune says. It's hard for a man who has spent his adult life helping others to accept help for himself.

It's also hard to get firefighters to talk about what kind of person Charlie Iwata is. Firefighters don't share stories or anecdotes. Even close friends he's known for years will speak only in general terms. The most they will say is, "He's the nicest guy" or "No matter what you're doing, you always want him on your team" and "He exemplifies what it means to be a firefighter."

He will always be a firefighter at heart, but Charlie says he probably will never go back to the job he loved, the only job he ever wanted to do.

"Even if I do get better, I don't think I can do what I used to do anymore."

What about working in administration?

"Well, I don't know. I'm not the office type of guy. I'd rather get dirty with the rest of the men."

He hasn't been able to work in months, and that troubles him, not so much for himself, but for the department.

"I'm taking up space for somebody else who could enjoy the job like I have, so it's not fair. It's not fair at all."

He's gotten cards and letters from people he helped during the years of responding to fires and car crashes, swimmers in distress and medical emergencies. He says it's nice that those folks remember him.

"What I loved the most was just being with a bunch of guys with a common goal, which was to help other people. I didn't really look at it as being a hero. I'm not a hero. Not at all. Just somebody who wanted to do some good, that's all."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com