Change needed for brigade’s survival
CHANGING how the Duntroon Volunteer Fire Brigade operates may go a long way in determining whether it survives, brigade chief fire officer David Eckhardt says.
About 30 people attended a meeting at the brigade’s Rees St base on Monday where the future of the brigade was discussed, after concerns were raised by Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the brigade that it might not be sustainable because of a lack of new recruits.
On Monday, the Otago Daily
reported the brigade had four operational members who were qualified to wear breathing apparatus and go into structural fires.
Mr Eckhardt said ideally it needed 10, but could get by with ‘‘six or seven’’.
Speaking after the meeting, he said 12 people had expressed an interest in join ing the brigade, which had alleviated some of the pressure it faced.
Ideas that were floated at the meeting were to split from its current status as an urban brigade, to both urban and rural, or establish it as a rural only brigade.
‘‘Whether it becomes a rural brigade, rather than an urban brigade, is still questionable, but we may even make it half and half. The likes of myself and others can wear the breathing apparatus equipment and the other half could be rural fire, fighting grass fires and that sort of thing. Basically, that’s what probably we will be looking at.’’
He said an urban brigade dealt mostly with structure fires and motor vehicle accidents, and rural brigades vegetation fires.
Both were able to assist in medicalrelated callouts.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand CentralNorth Otago area manager Keith McIntosh said that would be in line with the organisation’s future plans, but was also based on recruitment factors.
‘‘FENZ is moving to flexible modelling, so brigades are going to be shaped around the communities’ risk and needs. So, we don’t know whether it (Duntroon) is going to be 50% urban firefighters wearing breathing apparatus. That will depend on what these people are able to commit to and want to commit to. The next step is a big one.’’
The brigade, established in 1964, is backed up by the Kurow, Oamaru and Weston brigades.