Come ride the big red

Greerton volunteer acting station officers Evan Riggir (driving) and Malcolm Campbell. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

They come hurtling round the corner in the big red fire truck and suddenly there's hope.

'It's an amazing sense of satisfaction, enormously rewarding,” says Evan Riggir. He's the officer-in-charge of the volunteers at the Greerton Fire Station.

'Generally, that first reaction to our arrival is one of relief – people at a low ebb, people at a difficult and dangerous time and then suddenly help's at hand – it's a very powerful thing.”

The Greerton Volunteer Fire Brigade gets 220 callouts a year – and 54 already this year. 'We are right on track,” says Evan.

Evan's been riding the fire truck for 15 years as a volunteer. Now he's the OIC and pitching for new recruits. It's a continual process because peoples' circumstances change – the volunteers move away for work, or work cycles change and their ability to turn out is restricted. And maybe there are family constraints.

All three local stations are recruiting. 'Establishment is 22 operational volunteer firefighters. We need another six or seven,” says Evan.

There's a lot of interest but the job also requires a lot of giving – time, effort and commitment.

'It's rain, hail or shine, in the middle of the night or weekends when their friends are all out doing stuff. 'It's a huge commitment to the community, but a very satisfying one.”

They try to run a duty watch so volunteers can have a weekend free to do things – have a beer and not worry if and when the alarm goes up. 'But we need to have sufficient numbers to be able to do that.”

Evan joined the volunteer fire brigade when he left the Navy. 'I missed the camaraderie of the services and found it again in the brigade. The environment is pretty good, we're a closeknit team.”

The Greerton fire station has one front running operational paid crew appliance manned 24/7. And it's backed up by a secondary crew, the volunteers on a pager system. Secondary but still a front running operational crew, which can and will respond to any callout.

'If the paid crew is busy at another incident, we will get called to attend. Could be a fire, could be a crash; could be a medical assist.”

'People are surprised when we turn up to an emergency and they learn we are volunteers. But we all wear the same uniform, we all have the same level of expertise and professionalism,” says Evan. 'And we provide the same level of service. But we don't get paid.”

And 16 minutes ago they could have been bathing the kids, doing the dishes, watching TV, at work. Sixteen minutes because that's the optimal time for a volunteer turnout – from home, work or wherever to the station and then to the incident. And if the volunteers can't muster a crew, the job goes to the next available crew in Tauranga.

So Evan and the other volunteer brigades at Mount Maunganui and Tauranga are also looking for new talent. Requirements are permanent New Zealand citizenship, 16 years of age with parental permission, 18 without, a driver's licence to get you to the station in an emergency, a good level of physical fitness and a clean Police sheet.

'But you can't walk in one day and go out on a fire appliance the next.” It takes between nine and 18 months depending on what time people can commit and the availability of courses, to become qualified.

'From the brigade's perspective that is a major investment of time and resource before there is any return. So we have an ongoing small number of recruits so they continually come on stream.”

But even when the volunteers head off to university or jobs in other towns, they aren't lost. 'They don't leave the fire service, they just leave us; they join other units,” says Evan.

There a lots of satisfied customer stories – like the severe 2013 flooding in Mount Maunganui. 'A woman had one-and-a-half metres of water running through her house.

'We were able to drain that out, stabilise the property and assist with the start of the insurance process. Very rewarding for Evan and she was very, very grateful. Are you interested in becoming a volunteer fireman?

Go to: www.fire.org.nz/Jobs/Volunteer-firefighters/Pages/AnIntroductiontoVolunteering.html

Or see: www.fire.org.nz and follow the quicklink ‘Become a Volunteer'.

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