A select group of Tauranga firefighters will today be honoured for their role in helping protect the city and its residents.
Twenty firefighters from Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Greerton fire stations will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for their 15 or more years of service and achievements within their area. They are: Ross Hamilton, David McKinley, Lindsay Nicol, Roy Lemon, Troy Gaskett, Bruce Nilson, Brendan Jeffs, Bruce Rutherford, Jeff Francis, Justin Brown, Melvern Wainwright, Kerry Gordon, Aaron Moore, Graeme Easton, Phillip Price, Mark Keller, Terry Mills, Paul Van Kol, Robert Pinkerton and John Takirau.
Tauranga chief fire officer Bruce Nilson and fire service volunteers Bruce Rutherford, Brendan Jeffs, Justin Brown and Jeff Francis spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times ahead of the awards ceremony tonight.
Mr Nilson has been with the Tauranga station for 34 years and has seen his fair share of tragedies as well as highlights. But it is the service to the city and the sense of camaraderie throughout the station that has kept him in the job for so long. "It still feels like I joined just yesterday, then it's 34 years later and you think, 'Wow, where did that time go'," Mr Nilson said. " ... the company of the guys and the camaraderie within the brigade and within the fire service in general would be my biggest highlight."
In true brothers-in-arms fashion, the guys all agreed, saying 15 years only felt like five.