New station under way
After the Pigeon Valley wildfires, the Appleby Volunteer Fire Brigade almost doubled in size.
Volunteer firefighter Bella ClarkMelchers said that before the 2019 fires, the brigade had 12 volunteers. It now had 20. Some of those new recruits came from the Redwood Valley and had been personally affected by the wildfires.
Later this year, the brigade will have a new station to call home, on the corner of Redwood Rd and the Moutere Highway.
Clark-Melchers said the brigade wanted to train the new recruits so they would be ready to go when the station was finished.
Earthworks have begun at the new site, which is just over two kilometres away from the current station, with the build estimated to take around seven months.
Principal rural fire officer Ian Reade said the new site was made up of land purchased from the Tasman District Council and land donated by the Ford family, who own the adjacent orchard. Ted Ford is a founding member of the Appleby brigade and is still part of the team.
Reade said the current building on Pea Viner Corner had been generously provided by the O’Connor family at no cost for more than 30 years. A former farm shed which is over a century old, it had been renovated twice.
‘‘The crew have outgrown the building itself, and the traffic flows have got a bit too heavy.’’
The new, purpose-built station will include two bays, a working space, and a training and meeting room.
Reade said the volunteers were excited about the move. The brigade had formed a committee to liaise with Fire and Emergency NZ around the finer details of the build.
‘‘I’m sure the community around Appleby will be excited to see its brigade get new facilities.’’
In 2020, the brigade attended 57 callouts. These included 13 motor vehicle accidents and 18 fires – four structure fires, six vegetation fires, and eight other fires.
Over the past three years, the brigade has attended a total of 188 callouts.