More than 2,000 would-be Honolulu firefighters who took a department exam in September will have their test scores invalidated and must take the test again in February because some candidates had an unfair advantage, city officials said yesterday.

Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi said that because so few people have been leaving the department, the problem will not cause a shortage of firefighters.

Ken Nakamatsu, city director of human resources, said his office declared the test, administered on Sept. 10, invalid after discovering that a very similar sample test was available through the Web site of I/O Solutions, the Illinois testing company that provided the actual test.

"We got a phone call, telling us about the practice test on the Web site," Nakamatsu said. "We took a look and decided to investigate."

The test format and types of questions on the two tests were remarkably similar, city staffers said.

Because not all candidates were aware of the practice test, the five candidates who purchased it — and any other candidates who might have seen it — were deemed to have an unfair advantage, Nakamatsu said.

Testing experts outside of the city's human resources office were consulted, and agreed the sample test constituted a problem, he said.

Nakamatsu said the city has asked I/O Solutions to refund the $23,500 that the city paid for the tests.

Attempts by The Advertiser to reach I/O Solutions yesterday after the city's 3 p.m. press conference were unsuccessful because the Illinois office was closed.

Nakamatsu said the 2,309 candidates who took the test on Sept. 10 will receive letters instructing them to report for a new test to be administered on Feb. 25.

Neighbor Island and Mainland candidates provided their own transportation to the O'ahu testing sites for the first tests and will be required to do the same for the second test, he said.

"We regret the inconvenience of this action and ask for the candidates' understanding that this is necessary to ensure fairness and integrity in the testing process," Nakamatsu said.

This is not the first time the city has taken issue with a sample firefighter test being made available through a testing company's Web site.

In late October, the city canceled a video test on the day it was to be administered to the candidates.

Nakamatsu said city staffers took that action after receiving a phone call advising them that the testing company, Ergometrics of Edmonds, Wash., offered a practice test.

The city also considered that test to be overly similar to the actual test, he said, and because not everyone was aware that a practice test was available, those who had found it on the Internet had an unfair advantage, Nakamatsu said.

A full refund of the $8,000 testing cost was requested, and Ergometrics provided it, he said.

Until the issue is studied in more detail, the video part of the test has been discontinued, he said.

Testing for firefighters is offered about every three years in Honolulu, Chief Leonardi said. Those who pass are moved up to physical testing, tests of swimming ability and interviews, as vacancies occur.

About 5,000 candidates applied during the previous round in 2002, he said. About 120 of them were eventually hired.

More than 4,000 people applied in June when the city issued its latest call for applicants.

Leonardi said that fewer vacancies are expected to be filled by this batch of applicants in the next few months because fewer firefighters are retiring from the department this year.

"So far only 17," he said. "And we usually have 40-plus retirees per year."

Starting salary for firefighters in Honolulu is about $35,000.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.