Recruits wanted

Local fire brigades are again desperately short of volunteers and are calling for new recruits to boost numbers.

Some stations have been struggling to muster a full crew for callouts in recent months, especially during the day when most volunteers are at work.

Fire & Emergency NZ’s volunteer support officer Terry Hewitt says finding and keeping brigade volunteers is an ongoing challenge in rural areas. He said Warkworth, Matakana and Leigh all need to pull in extra crew members to remain viable.

“Most stations have enough to turn out, but if you’re looking at progression and people leaving, they need to be starting to pull people in to keep the brigade at a viable level,” he says. “Some are at their lower limit right now.”

He said another problem was that younger volunteers often moved out of the area for work or study.
“We put the effort into training them and can’t always keep them.”

Matakana’s officer-in-charge Peter Guild says their crew is planning to launch a Facebook page to raise local awareness of the brigade and its activities, and hopefully attract some new recruits along the way – something which Warkworth and Wellsford brigades have done successfully.

Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a firefighter is encouraged to get in touch with their nearest fire station, or visit fireandemergency.nz/volunteering/how-to-volunteer