We must act now to install a new station of nearly 30 professional firefighters in the Whakatipu Basin to work alongside the area’s volunteers before it’s too late to properly deal with increasing emergency demands of the big-growth district.
That’s the view of New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union national boss Ian Wright, who says wheels need to be set in motion now because it takes at least five years to set up a pro firey unit with the time it takes to recruit staff, procure land and get building consents.
He’s responding to a story in last week’s Mountain Scene where Queenstown and Arrowtown fire chiefs, and the local Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) commander, said there was no immediate need for pro fireys in the Whakatipu.
“It is quite clear to everyone, including local volunteer firefighters, that the Basin is well overdue for career firefighters,” Wright says.
Referencing the Scene story he says, “words like coping [and] the phrase ‘don’t appear to be struggling’ are another sign of the importance of career firefighters, especially in the context of the growth the area is witnessing and the more technical nature of responses”.
“These things take a lot of time and the wheels move pretty damn slowly in Fire and Emergency.
“It would take five to 10 years to get off the ground.”
He says the professionals would take the pressure off the volunteers, their families and employers and build on the “great work” the vollies are doing in the district.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the community.
“They are a great resource to have.
“[However] Fenz underestimates the amount of time that it takes and they rely on the goodwill of the volunteers and their families and employers for ever-increasing call-outs and time away from work.”
Wright, a 36-year veteran pro firey and senior station officer in Lower Hutt, is familiar with the Basin.
He took a year off in 2015 to manage Queenstown Country Lodge in Ladies Mile with his wife.
He believes the needs of the area would be met by a crew of 28 pro fireys operating out of a new station in high-growth Frankton.
That would cover a crew of six operating 24/7, “four on a fire appliance, another two on a specialist appliance, a command unit doubling as a hazardous substance unit”.
Working on rotation, the fireys would do two 10-hour day shifts and two 14-hour nights, followed by four days off.
Fenz was approached by Mountain Scene to give an estimate on the cost of setting up such a unit but could not be reached.
“Career firefighters would be an incredible asset to the volunteer community and the public and business owners of the
Basin,” Wright says.
“The benefits are plenty and include . . . providing additional training, response and equipment support . . . maintenance and
testing.’’
He adds pro fireys could do the heavy lifting on higher technical rescues and hazardous substance responses that are time-consuming for vollies to keep their training and competencies up to date.
He’s even offering his time to come to the Basin and talk to the vollies about the ins and outs of installing a pro crew here.
“To go through what will it mean for them and how we can help.”
