Firefighter in winning form

For the second year in a row, Wellsford volunteer firefighter Trent Jones has proved to be a champion behind the wheel of a fire appliance.

Jones won the Emergency Response Driver Competition held in Ruakākā earlier this month, ahead of Kohukohu fire chief Neil Matheson. He will now compete in the Auckland provisional competition in Rotorua next month and the national finals in Fielding.

The Ruakākā competition attracted a field of 26 participants, from Wellsford to Kaitaia.

Altogether, five firefighters from Wellsford competed and Wellsford finished third in the teams category, which was won by Ruakākā.

Using operational vehicles, the competitors were tested in a range of challenges from reversing and parallel parking to corning, judging distances and speed control.

Jones, who is the senior station officer in Wellsford, has been in the fire service for 21 years. He has been competing at different levels of the competition since 2007 and won the national title in 2012.

He says he enjoys driving and during the week, works as a truck and trailer driver for Wharehine Contractors.

He says the competition is about speed control and driving safely at speed.

Commenting on his win, he said his years in the competition had taught him where to avoid penalties.