My Account
Welcome to a new monthly column, which will keep readers up-to-date with the activities of fire stations in the Mahurangi district, north to Mangawhai and Maungaturoto. The volunteer brigades are a critical part of our emergency response service, but are in desperate need of more recruits. If you would like to know more, visit fire.org.nz.
By senior fire officer Barry Clarke
Big changes are afoot at Matakana Fire Station but will they be enough to save the station from closure? That’s the problem facing the local fire crew and the NZ Fire Service (NZFS), which recently took over responsibility of the Matakana brigade. Matakana, Waitakere and Muriwai stations are the first rural fire services involved in a restructure that could roll-out across NZ. We are the ‘guinea pigs’ and while the changes will appear minor to the public, in terms of our day-to-day operations, the critical bottom line is that we must attract more volunteers from our community to ensure our survival.The change for Matakana began in November. The lead appliance and volunteers will now carry the NZFS logo and their management will be based in Takapuna. The Matakana Rural Fire Service Trust, that established the brigade 10 years ago, will remain in place and for the volunteer crews, it will be business as usual.
But Matakana, like so many other rural fire services, is critically short of volunteers. Some stations in Rodney have been unable to respond to urgent calls because of insufficient crews. The added problem for Matakana is the average age of its 20-plus crew is about 50, and many will want to stand down when they can no longer be sure of meeting the demands of handling breathing apparatus under challenging circumstances. I’ve had 43 years as a fire fighter but at nearly 70, I would prefer to see younger fire fighters answering the calls. We simply don’t have enough able bodies available to respond to the call-outs, especially during the day.
The NZFS selected Matakana because of its critical location and proximity to Omaha, Point Wells and other nearby communities – Warkworth is too far away for a quick response. If we cannot improve the crew numbers and lower the average age, the station will eventually have to close – it’s that simple. This drastic step is still a number of years away and by that time, the NZFS may have come up with some radical solutions. In the meantime, locals – male and female – are urged to come forward to help either as trained volunteers or operational support, helping behind the scenes with administration, education or traffic management.
Info: fire.org.nz or phone Mr Clarke at 422 9363.
