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For Mahurangi fire service volunteers most of the callouts are medical – a situation not shared by the urban and city fire services.
That’s because the St John Ambulance Service is more likely to be close at hand, explains Don McErlich, New Zealand Fire Service volunteer support fire officer for the Rodney area.
In Rodney and Kaipara rural communities, the nearest ambulance may well be attending another incident elsewhere in the district.
“It adds that extra challenge to the volunteers who already give so much to their community,” Don says.
The Mahurangi area fire stations are based in Ahuroa, Matakana, Mahurangi East, Warkworth, Leigh, Wellsford, Kawau Island and Puhoi. Further north are the stations of Kaiwaka and Mangawhai Heads.
The stations are all owned or managed by the NZ Fire Service and either Auckland Council or Kaipara District Council. The organisations work together and back each other up when necessary.
They share training facilities and in most cases have a large contingent of volunteers. Matakana’s crew includes three grandmothers, all training as hard as the rest of their fellow volunteers and learning to handle the heavy hoses, lift the pumps and face up to the heat of a blazing fire.
The Warkworth station is the busiest in the area, followed by Wellsford and Matakana, Mahurangi East.
In the past 12 months, seven of these stations have attended more than 1000 calls – around 300 for Warkworth, 250 for Wellsford, 100 for Leigh, 160 for Mahurangi East, 100 for Puhoi, 70 for Ahuroa and 90 for Mangawhai Heads.
Many of the callouts are to vegetation fires, followed by house and structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical calls. Vegetation fires are common in rural communities.
The fire season in Rodney was closed until April 19 because of the extremely dry weather and a fire permit was required before any fires could be lit.
“It is now open fire season again but it is still the land owner’s responsibility to ensure the fire does not get out of control,” Don says.
Anyone wanting to light a fire should contact the Auckland Council to enquire if a permit is necessary, and advise the local fire brigade of the pending fire to avoid an unnecessary callout.
“Early morning is best, when the weather is at its calmest. Land owners should ensure there is a fire break so it won’t spread into nearby grass.
“If the fire is illegal it will be put out and the land owner could be charged for the callout cost.”
Don says although the Rodney rural area gets more than its share of vehicle accidents, these are usually attended by the fire service as they are more extensively trained and have specialised rescue equipment for the job. The local rural crew will secure the site and assist until the fire service crew arrives.
He says all of Rodney’s fire brigades are within the top 10 busiest rural fire services in New Zealand – the result of having so many pockets of small communities. Auckland Council has strongly supported its rural fire service and the stations are well equipped.
Further fundraising may be carried out by the individual fire stations if they want special equipment for their community.
