25 years of service earns gold star for top fire officer
120 firefighters gather for ceremony
aihia’s chief fire officer Rex Wilson has joined the list of those who have been honoured for a quarter century of service to his community.
About 120 firefighters, along with members of Wilson’s family from around the North Island, gathered at the Paihia Fire Station to celebrate his award.
His Gold Star medal was presented by United Fire Brigades’ Association representative Henry Nissen, who was Paihia’s CFO when Wilson signed up as a volunteer, and was pinned to his tunic by his daughter Nikki.
Wilson, who has led the brigade for the last six years, taking over from Shane Schrafft in 2015, said his reason for giving up so much time and energy to the brigade was simple.
“People say they do it for the community, but I do it for me, for the satisfaction I get from helping the community. And being chief is cool because you get to support other brigade members to do that as well,” he said.
No particular callout stood out from the past 25 years — the minor incidents could be just as memorable as the big fires and natural disasters — but tsunami warnings, with the large numbers of people who had to be evacuated from vulnerable areas, were the brigade’s biggest logistical nightmare.
“But people are starting to get it. They know Civil Defence doesn’t set the alarms off lightly,” he said.
Everyone should consider joining — “We need people from all walks of life, and it’s just so satisfying,” he added.
The Paihia shop owner is also an accomplished athlete, who competed in the marathon at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and ran in long-distance events at three Commonwealth Games.
The 60-year-old is still one of the fastest firefighters in Northland in the annual race up the 1103 steps of Auckland’s Sky Tower.