Te Puke fire brigade’s seagull rescue one for the books

Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade update.

Emergency calls as at November 25: 277

We had an unusual call last week to rescue a seagull trapped on the pedestrian crossing pole in Jellicoe St. The bird appeared to have swallowed a fish hook attached to fishing line, which must have become entangled in the pole.

A ladder up the pole and some gloves and we were able to free the bird to the amusement of onlookers and café patrons nearby. The bird did not look well so we took it to the vets, who were very helpful, to take the appropriate action.

It was one of 12 calls in the past fortnight.

We have had two medical calls to assist St John, tragically both fatal and one motor vehicle crash to assist Maketū Volunteer Fire Brigade, at the rail crossing at the intersection of Maketū Rd and Te Puke Highway near AFFCO. No extrications were required but there were multiple patients from two vehicles.

Among the four fires was an oven fire at Mountbatten Place that was out on arrival, a small rubbish bin fire in Jellicoe St and two minor vegetation fires.

We had one instance of covering other brigades on November 20 that subsequently resulted in our truck and tanker being sent to a major shelter belt fire at Snodgrass Rd in Te Puna.

The fire destroyed several kilometres of shelter belt because of strong winds and a proliferation of shelter belts in the area very close together. It required 17 fire trucks, three tankers, 10 support vehicles and a helicopter to extinguish over three days due to recurring hotspots – the scene was handed back to the property owners on November 23.

There were also three false alarms.

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