Fireman Pat marking 50 years in hot seat
Long-time firefighter Pat Fitzell remembers sneaking out of high school to attend fires in Hamilton.
It all started in 1966 when he was 14 and joined the brigade as a volunteer. Fitzell is now the Taranaki area commander and is today marking 50 years of service.
He will be celebrating with a ceremony at the New Plymouth HQ with people from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, formerly the Fire Service, along with friends and family.
Fitzell said reaching the milestone was more common now but it was still an honour.
United Fire Brigades Association president Alan Kittelty will present Fitzell with a medal and Fire and Emergency New Zealand fire regional manager Brendan Nally is also attending.
Over 50 years Fitzell has helped shape the service through committees and has also helped train the next crop of firefighters.
Despite the achievement he’s still on call. ‘‘When you join up you’re like a family and we’re all here to help our community.’’
There have been many changes during Fitzell’s 50 years and he said there was now more focus on health and safety.
Breathing apparatus is just one of many changes he’s seen.
The first house fire Fitzell ever went to there was no such thing as a breathing apparatus, an integral part of the kit nowadays. ‘‘You just took a deep breath before going into a house fire.’’
However, it wasn’t just equipment that had changed, so have the appliances and the types of emergencies the service now attend. ‘‘We’re now having to attend more medical and natural disasters.’’
And if you thought he was about to give it away and settle into retirement, then think again.
‘‘It’s something to look at in the future but there’s still some planning to do,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got grandchildren in Brisbane so we might spend some time over there.’’