Meet your Fire Fighters

Mike Lace has been a brigade member for 9 years, having family history in emergency services.  His Grandfather was a fire fighter during WWII in Manchester.  After serving in the armed forces in the UK and here in NZ and a career in information technology, Mike joined the Brigade, following his brother Kim who was also a member.  Mike is the owner in Interlace Technology, offering local sales, service and support for computers and networks.

He currently has the rank of Station Officer and is often the Officer-in-Charge of call outs.  Asked if he has any particular scary moments, his immediate memory was of a burning ceiling falling on his helmet, thinking it was the whole roof coming down to bury him.  His partner on the hose behind him saw it was just one ceiling tile and they both laughed it off before getting on with fighting the blaze. 

He remembers another fire when the scary part came after the initial interior attack when it was discovered there was a large stock of chemicals and petrol that he crawled past, which couldn’t be seen due to the thick smoke.
Mike has 2 daughters, age 4 and 6 and is in a relationship with Maureena who has two boys age 10 and 8.  After kids and the brigade there is occasionally a little time for fishing.

His advice to new recruits is “You get out what you put in.  Work hard and the reward of satisfaction comes to you knowing you are helping your community and friends in the brigade.”