FIRED UP

Te Atatu volunteer firefighters don't want to burn their bridges, but plans to close their station are putting a dampener on their efforts. Joanna Davies reports
Te Atatu's Volunteer Fire Brigade has been part of the peninsula's landscape since 1968. That could soon end.
The current building has been used since 1980, when the area was known as Te Atatu North, but plans to build a new base in neighbouring Te Atatu South could put the station out of commission.
Effectively, a large, fully-manned station in the south of the suburb would mean the satellite firehouse in the north would need to go.
''There's a lot of volunteers that aren't happy,'' says Andy Bates, who has volunteered for nine years.
''A lot have decided to wait and get the final decision on the new station until they decide whether they are wanting to carry on.
''The staff all live in the area and they would have to uplift their homes and families to get closer to the new station.''
The Fire Service currently has four minutes to respond to a call-out, but Mr Bates says the traffic along Te Atatu Rd to reach the new station would make it difficult for volunteers to get there in time.
''The road gets gridlocked in peak hours.''
The brigade has 17 volunteer firefighters. Officer-in-charge Alastair Sadler has been with the brigade since 1978.
''There's a lot of mixed feelings because we've been here for so long, and we're like a family.'' If the proposed station is given resource consent, the peninsula station site will be sold and the volunteers will be based in Te Atatu South alongside a crew of paid firefighters.
''In the end, our main concern is the community and providing them with the service,'' says Mr Sadler.
''At the moment, we can't serve weekdays because of people working, but at night and on the weekend we have a team that is dedicated to volunteering.''
Mr Sadler says the brigade asked Fire Service management about appointing a day crew for the north station, but land for the new southern site had already been bought.
''Ideally, they could have used this site, or a site closer to the motorway but still on the peninsula.''
Waitakere's chief fire officer, Ross Taylor, says the proposed site, on the corner of Covil Ave and Te Atatu Rd, was chosen because it is close to the motorway, and the crews would be able respond in better times.
''Instead of just having a satellite station in a cul-de-sac like Te Atatu, we will have a station with a 24-hour crew that can respond in four directions,'' says Mr Taylor.
The service will cover parts of Henderson, Glendene, and Te Atatu, and will be able to support areas such as Massey and Rosebank Rd when necessary.