23 May 20, 2015 Mahurangi Matters fire servicefeature

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There’s no knowing when the pager goes off whether the callout for assistance will be fire, medical, car accident, flooding, trees down and causing problems, a rescue or a civil defence situation.For Mahurangi fire service volunteers most of the callouts are medical – a situation not shared by the urban and city fire services.That’s because the St John Ambulance Service is more likely to be close at hand, explains Don McErlich, New Zealand Fire Service volunteer support fire officer for the Rodney area.In Rodney and Kaipara rural communities, the nearest ambulance may well be attending another incident elsewhere in the district. “It adds that extra challenge to the volunteers who already give so much to their community,” Don says.The Mahurangi area fire stations are based in Ahuroa, Matakana, Mahurangi East, Warkworth, Leigh, Wellsford, Kawau Island and Puhoi. Further north are the stations of Kaiwaka and Mangawhai Heads.The stations are all owned or managed by the NZ Fire Service and either Auckland Council or Kaipara District Council. The organisations work together and back each other up when necessary.They share training facilities and in most cases have a large contingent of volunteers. Matakana’s crew includes

Rodney’s firefighters are amongst NZ’s busiest.

Rural heroes face the heat

three grandmothers, all training as hard as the rest of their fellow volunteers and learning to handle the heavy hoses, lift the pumps and face up to the heat of a blazing fire. The Warkworth station is the busiest in the area, followed by Wellsford,

Matakana and Mahurangi East.In the past 12 months, seven of these stations have attended more than 1000 calls – around 300 for Warkworth, 250 for Wellsford, 100 for Leigh, 160 for Mahurangi East, 100 for Puhoi, 70 for Ahuroa and 90 for Mangawhai Heads.

Many of the callouts are to vegetation fires, followed by house and structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical calls. Vegetation fires are common in rural communities. The fire season in Rodney was closed until April 19 because of the extremely dry weather and a fire permit was required before any fires could be lit. “It is now open fire season again but it is still the land owner’s responsibility to ensure the fire does not get out of control,” Don says. Anyone wanting to light a fire should contact the Auckland Council to enquire if a permit is necessary, and advise the local fire brigade of the pending fire to avoid an unnecessary callout. “Early morning is best, when the weather is at its calmest. Land owners should ensure there is a fire break so it won’t spread into nearby grass.“If the fire is illegal it will be put out and the land owner could be charged for the callout cost.”Don says although the Rodney rural area gets more than its share of vehicle accidents, these are usually attended by the fire service as they are more extensively trained and have specialised rescue equipment for the job. The local rural crew will secure the site and assist until the fire service crew arrives.He says all of Rodney’s fire brigades are within the top 10 busiest rural

continued page 24

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24 Mahurangi Matters May 20, 2015 fire servicefeature

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As a founding member of the Snells Beach brigade Dave Wyatts business is very proud to support the fire service in any way. His father Doug, who currently works for Wyatts, is an active member and always on call. Doug has been a volunteer for 25 years this August.

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fire services in New Zealand – the result of having so many pockets of small communities. Auckland Council has strongly supported its rural fire service and the stations are well equipped. Further fundraising may be carried out by the individual fire stations if they want special equipment for their community.

An Open Day at the Warkworth Fire Brigade on Saturday May 30 will be an opportunity for anyone interested in becoming a volunteer to learn more about what the job involves. The station will have information on volunteer firefighter duties and the criteria for joining.

Visitors will be able to look through the station and over the appliances, and there will be an opportunity to ‘have a go’ at some firefighting activities such as ladder climbing and wearing breathing apparatus. The Open Day will run from 10am to 12 noon.

Can you help?A Fire Service volunteer must be 16 years and over. Volunteers are trained in basic fire fighting skills for rural vegetation, breathing apparatus, pump operation, emergency vehicle driving, fire ground safety, basic and advanced first aid and scene protection. The commitment to becoming a volunteer is significant – attending some weekend courses at the New Zealand Fire Service Training Centre, as well as weekend courses and weekly training sessions held at their own station premises. A good level of fitness is required, and a supportive employment situation that enables the volunteer to ‘drop and run’ for an unknown length of time at the summons of the pager. Then there is the supportive family as they too accept that someone has a need, and their family member is going to help.The rookie starts as a recruit firefighter, progressing to qualified firefighter, senior firefighter and then station officer. Some choose to go on to become professional firefighters. Many of these young recruits become confident leaders in their community, learning valuable life skills and earning considerable respect from fellow residents. It’s exciting work which involves helping people in times of need.

Rural heroes from page 23

Warkworth open day invitation

Ahuroa Volunteer Rural Fire Force chief fire officer Alastair Todd says they are down to a crew of nine.“We usually have about 15 but we’ve had a few members leave the area,” Alastair says. Members are expected to attend Tuesday evening training sessions as well as an occasional weekend training course each year.“There is plenty to do that won’t push you out of your comfort zone. The brigade has several members who are trained to attend medical issues, but we still need people to help manage traffic, fetch and carry equipment, and so on.”Volunteers can also help without attending callouts. The brigade is looking for a new secretary and also needs people to look after the station and do paper work.“Luckily, it has been a quiet summer for the brigade, with only about five call outs this year. I think people are getting the message about when they can’t light fires.”Warkworth Fire Brigade is also low on volunteers. Senior station manager Devan Flewellyn says the brigade has had five members leave in the past six months and is down to a crew of 25.“We are looking for about five fit and energetic people who are prepared to complete firefighter training and help the community.”The brigade has had about 65 callouts this year, which is about normal. About 60 per cent were traffic related, 30 per cent were fire related and 10 per cent were medical.

Fire brigades in need

Local fundraisers help supplement the fire

service and Auckland Council funding. An Open Day was held

at the Leigh Fire Station last month

in conjunction with Leigh Walks, which is an annual fundraiser

for the brigade.

25 May 20, 2015 Mahurangi Matters fire servicefeature

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CALLS WILL YOUWHEN YOUR COMMUNITY

?

CALLS WILL YOUWHEN YOUR COMMUNITY

More volunteers are needed to help share the call out load.

If you can help, call your local fire brigade.

Visit www.fire.org.nz and click on ‘become a volunteer’.

0800 fIre recruIt • 0800 347 373

Warkworth NZFS Devon Flewellyn 027 480 4836

Wellsford NZFS Trevor Bowmar 021 423 766

Mahurangi NZFS Trent Morley 021 533 5442

Matakana NZFS Luke Bianca 021 027 55418

Leigh NZFS Kevin Watson 027 224 9885

Mangawhai NZFS Mike McEnaney 027 450 0131

Kaiwaka NZFS John Bowmar 027 276 4488

Puhoi Rural Russell Green 021 655 461

Ahuroa Rural Alan Davie-Martin 027 634 3519

Kawau Island Rural Martin Duytshoff 021 041 7868

It is ‘situation critical’ for at least four of Rodney’s fire stations covering the Warkworth-Wellsford area, as well as Kaiwaka and Mangawhai Heads.On at least three occasions over the past few months, local appliances have not been able to attend daytime callouts because they couldn’t raise enough crew.NZ Fire Service volunteer support fire officer for the Rodney area, Don McErlich, says Puhoi has 10 trained volunteer crew available, but needs 20.“Other local stations have to respond, putting more workload on them,” he says. “The response delays can also become very concerning.”The shortage of volunteers is a major concern for the fire service and it is a New Zealand-wide problem. “One reason people may be unwilling to commit is the demand on their

Volunteer shortage reduces service

spare time, but the stations in the Warkworth-Wellsford area average only two or three calls a week.“Employers may also be reluctant to allow time off for their staff to attend incidents but their contribution in releasing a staff member for a daytime call-out once every few weeks is a vital part of our community service. We need more volunteers and they need their employer’s support.”A greater pool of volunteers enables the number of call-outs to be more equally shared between volunteers and neighbouring brigades, he adds. There are also different levels of support critical to the fire service. Operational volunteers respond to emergencies, but there is also a need for operational support crew who carry out non-hazardous tasks such as people and traffic control and transport of equipment, to free up

the trained volunteers for more specific tasks. A third layer of volunteer help involves administrative support or presenting fire safety programmes to schools or the elderly. “We really need more help at all levels but critically at the ‘front-line’ of our service,” Don says. “Training is offered and it can open doors to other employment opportunities.”Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can contact Don on 027 233 151 or contact their local brigade

(see details in ad below).Both brigades are about five or six volunteers down on their optimum number and are particularly keen to recruit volunteers who can respond to daytime callouts.

26 Mahurangi Matters May 20, 2015 fire servicefeature

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The role played by employers in supporting Mahurangi’s volunteer fire forces has been acknowledged by the NZ Fire Service through its Employer Recognition Programme.Volunteer support officer Mike Barratt says that from the Fire Service’s perspective, having employers and business people helping, encouraging and supporting volunteer firefighters is tremendous. “The contribution they make is helping to build the overall health of the community, which, in turn, we know will lead to a better business climate,” he says.“The good corporate citizenship demonstrated by having their employees involved in voluntary activities sends a strong message to the local community that their business is concerned about local issues and is willing to work with it to achieve the greater good for all.”Contracting company Wharehine is an example of employer participation.Although the figure fluctuates, about 10 per cent of its combined workforce are fire service volunteers at Wellsford and Snells Beach.

“There are intangible benefits from having staff involved in the fire service,” managing director Rob Gibson says. “I believe staff are more engaged and they learn the value of teamwork.“Sometimes, after a night callout, they’ll still turn up to work but we usually send them home for a sleep.”The workers range from mechanics to truck drivers, construction crew and digger drivers.Rob says Wharehine has had a relatively long association with the Wellsford brigade but “thankfully”, as far as he is aware, has not had to use its services.Gubbs managing director Kevin Jones, who has been a volunteer fireman in Warkworth for 23 years, says he understands businesses’ reluctance to let staff be involved in the service.“It is hard to let them tear off at a moment’s notice,” he says. “But we’re all part of the same community and if we want a local fire service, then the crews have to come from somewhere.”On the ‘up’ side, Kevin says that fire service personnel have good qualifications in areas such as first aid, which do benefit the companies they work for.

Employers play their partLocal brigades are trained to respond to a range of callouts including industrial fires.

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