Plimmerton brigade make feelings known
Plimmerton Volunteer Fire Brigade will be rapt if they don’t have to set out cones to access a fire hydrant in the future.
Representatives of the brigade recently submitted to Parliament on the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill, which is going through the select committee process.
It follows three major reviews of the fire service in the past two years.
Proposed changes include a combined urban and rural service, improved support for firefighters, alignment of funding, effectively changing weather patterns, bringing leadership into one structure and identifying key differences for the future between volunteer and career firefighters.
Plimmerton was the only volunteer brigade in New Zealand to address the select committee. Its chief fire officer Carl Mills said he wasn’t nervous as there had been a lot of work done to get to this point, and their stance was clear.
They wanted hydrants to be accessible for training, powers established to use roads for nonemergency work and for there to be recognition of volunteer brigades in future legislation.
‘‘Rather than general statements, we wanted to make specific, targeted points, and I think we made them clearly,’’ Mills said.
‘‘We think the changes coming are good for the fire service and new rules are overdue and we were constructive with our feedback. The tone was conversational [at the hearing] and wasn’t too onerous.’’
Accessing hydrants, and testing them, was a big part of firefighting but having to fill out a traffic management form and put cones out on the road when the brigade wanted to use one during training was ridiculous, Mills said.
‘‘Coping with bureaucracy is one thing, but some things are just out of kilter. Three quarters of our activity is under emergency conditions, but the rest is other activities, like training.
‘‘We don’t want to have to produce paperwork for every thing we do. It will be good to tidy up a lot of practices around the country and get everyone on the same playing field.’’
After the bill’s second reading, it will go back to the House for debate, before a third and final reading.
Mills said his brigade’s submission was pulled together quickly, with full input from the members.