Deputy Fire Chief joins an elite club
Herbertville volunteer deputy fire chief Sue Barnett joined an elite club when she was awarded her gold star last Thursday night, acknowledging 25 years of commitment to making her community a safer place.
Sue joined the Herbertville rural fire force when she first arrived in the seaside settlement with husband John.
“John was with the brigade and there were a couple off callouts he couldn’t make, so I joined up,” she said.
Last Thursday night’s gold star ceremony at the Herbertville Fire Station was an emotional event as it was also a farewell to Sue who, with John, is leaving to live in the Nelson district.
Clayton Locke, the deputy rural fire chief for Fire and Emergency New Zealand for Wairarapa and Tararua, has known Sue for 20 years, but it’s been in the last 12 months that he’s found out how much she means to the community and the 11-strong fire crew.
“It’s your dedication and the strength others take from you,” he said.
Herbertville fire chief Trevor Beale acknowledged the great job Sue has done in the community.
“You have made my job much easier,” he said.
Mr Beale lives in Dannevirke, but is in radio contact with the Herbertville volunteers and he said it’s Sue who has often taken control of the callouts.
“You will be missed more than you realise,” he said. “You’re leaving a big hole.” Mr Beale told the Dannevirke News that when the siren went up in Herbertville, Sue and a core crew of Mark Edwards, Bryce McGhie and Shirley Williams would respond while he raced to join them.
“It’s been like that for years,” he said. “We’ve been involved in medical callouts, sea rescues, civil defence work, as well as motor vehicle accidents.
“We’re responsible for it all. “We could always rely on Sue and in all the time Sue and I have worked together there’s never been a disagreement.”
Sue said reaching her 25-year gold star milestone was “quite surreal”. “We have a really neat crew out here and everyone has their own strengths,” she said.
“Sue has worked bloody hard,” Mike Watson, of the Porangahau Volunteer Fire Brigade, said.
“She’s just one of those who gives everything.”
Fellow Herbertville volunteers said Sue has left a legacy of commitment and is an excellent example to others who follow in her footsteps.
Paddy Driver, the former principal rural fire officer for the Tararua District Council before the merger with FENZ, presented Sue with a certificate of appreciation for her valued commitment towards making her community a safer place, at the evening, which was also attended by Phil Wishnowski, from Masterton, the principal rural fire officer for the region.
Mr Beale’s 25 years of service, jointly served with Herbertville and the Dannevirke Volunteer Fire Brigade is up at the end of the year, when he will retire as Herbertville’s fire chief.
“I’ll still be around if they need me,” he said.