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Smoke swirled as a Matakana family crawled towards an open door, their noses pressed close to the floor and a fireman telling them this was their safest place. Once outside they all agreed – this was the best fun of the day.
The family was among the visitors to the Matakana Volunteer Fire Brigade open day on Sunday, January 31, held to encourage locals to join the fire service.
The open day included a snorkel appliance from Te Atatu (a 15,000 litre portable dam brimming with water), displays of the three appliances based at the Matakana Station on Omaha Flats Road, a sausage sizzle, and best of all, a ‘Wendy House’ that fills with smoke for training.
Children loved the opportunity for a sense of danger and a strong message – ‘get down, get low, get out and stay out’. Fireman Chris Jensen encouraged families to plan their escapes in the event of a fire and to have a meeting place. A nearby letterbox was a great place for everyone to then account for all family members and the letterbox next to the Wendy House was full of gifts for the children to reinforce their lessons learned.
Matakana senior station officer Barry Clarke says they urgently need more volunteers. “We need men or women to help, either as trained volunteers or operational support, which means they may not be involved in front line responses but helping behind the scenes with administration, education or traffic management.”
Another problem is the average age of the Matakana crew is about 50, and many want to stand down when they can no longer be sure they can meet the demands of handling breathing apparatus under challenging circumstances, Mr Clarke says.
The Matakana Station, which is celebrating its 10th year of local service, is managed by the New Zealand Fire Service.
The seven stations in Rodney have attended more than 1000 callouts in the past 12 months. Most are vegetation fires, followed by house and structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical calls.
Anyone interested in helping can go on line at www.fire.org.nz to obtain more information or contact Mr Clarke at 422 9363.
Supplied by Carolyn Howden
