At 5:45am on April 1, the Brigade was alerted to a forest fire at Kaikuri at Hinakura. It was the first major forest fire for South Wairarapa since 2008. Martinborough, Featherston, Tora, Lake Ferry and Ngawi all responded on the initial call out with much more help from much further afield to follow over the next few days. The deployment of these significant resources was under the direction of the National Incident Command Team.
As background, there are two divisions under the Fire service Commission in New Zealand. Urban Brigades (paid and volunteer) are responsible for incidences within the town boundaries and Rural Brigades cover outside those boundaries.
Martinborough, Greytown and Featherston are Urban Brigades, while Tora, Lake Ferry and Ngawi are rural brigades in South Wairarapa. However, urban brigades are asked to respond outside their urban district when it is likely to be of benefit. As a result, the Martinborough Brigade has one of the largest response areas in the country bounded by the coasts lines of Hinakura, Tora, Ngawi and Lake Ferry.
From the Martinborough Brigade perspective this large forest fire was a good example of how the two branches of the national fire service work together. The Martinborough crew arrived first and updated other units of the exact location and initial size of the blaze, The crew then met a representative of the land owner to discuss the terrain and consider the options to attack the fire.
As the terrain was very steep, helicopters were quickly requested along with a NZ Fire Service Command Appliance. Senior Fire Fighter Dean DiBona was taken by helicopter to survey the extent of the fire and was able to translate that to the area maps. After identifying water resources to fill helicopter buckets and setting up initial command structure, the incident was handed over to the rural fire service around 11am and the crew returned to the station. … Continue Reading
As always at the monthly meeting of the Friendship Club, lunch is an important part of the social gathering. However, last month’s theme of the Depression years meant simpler fare than usual. Soup in a mug was followed by a plain scone – no jam this time – and a cup of tea. Connie Taylor (far left at the front of the photo) said that golden syrup was suggested because this was a common alternative to jam during the Depression, but even this was rejected in favour of the very plain and simple. … Continue Reading
Recent Comments