Volunteers the lifeblood

Volunteers are a crucial part of operations within the fire brigade.

As the service prepares to celebrate 150 years of operation in New Plymouth, it remembers the countless people who have freely given their time to support the community in its times of need.

In New Plymouth the service was formed in 1866 with about 80 volunteers. Now, two thirds of the country’s fire brigade members are volunteers. In Taranaki that adds up to more than 350 people volunteering at the 18 brigades around the region.

Most of them rely on the generosity of their employers letting them to leave their jobs to answer the fire calls.

‘‘The volunteers do basically exactly the same firefighting operations as the paid staff,’’ celebration committee member Murray Andrews said.

He retired from firefighting about 18 months ago. ’’I started in 1969 as an on-station volunteer. That means that I slept upstairs at night and responded to fire calls at night and then during the day I went and did my normal job. At that stage it was a truck driving job.’’

He drove trucks for about 18 months before he was offered a paid staff role. ‘‘As a career fire fighter I thought it was an absolutely marvellous career and a wonderful lifestyle.’’

Mike Fabish, a volunteer for 16 years at New Plymouth West Station, works full time in freight operations for Toll Transport.

‘‘If I turn up to work late because I’ve been at a house fire, which has happened a couple of times, my employer is happy with it because they understand that one day it could be their house that’s on fire.’’

Fabish, a station officer, said becoming a volunteer firefighter requires a change in lifestyle because you’re on call all the time.

‘‘You could be going shopping, going out for dinner when the pager goes off. You leave your family, go to the station and help somebody and go back to your normal life. It happens in an instant.’’

The New Plymouth West station gets about 230 callouts a year. ‘‘One every couple of days would be the average.’’

During Labour Weekend the New Plymouth brigade will mark its 150th jubilee with there will be a public display at Puke Ariki and a formal get-together for past and present members.

To register patrick.fitzell@fire.org.nz. email

Outside the New Plymouth West Volunteer Fire Brigade are, from left, Murray Andrews, Max Rogers, Mike Fabish, and Jeremy Willan.

YVETTE BATTEN/FAIRFAX NZ For Mike Fabish ‘‘Going to the calls, the people that you meet and what you put into it, the amount of training and what you give back,’’ is what it is all about.