Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade report

Te Puke fire crews attended four fire callouts among its last 12 calls.

Emergency calls as of November 11: 265

We have had 12 calls in the past fortnight.

There was one false alarm, one trip to Tauranga to provide cover, and two special service calls – one to assist a member of the public with key retrieval and the other an animal rescue.

We had one medical call to assist St John Ambulance; thankfully, it wasn’t fatal. We attended two motor vehicle crashes, neither of which required extrication.

There were four fires – a smoke investigation in Seddon St, a sparking electrical box at Collins Lane, a small couch fire in MacLoughlin Drive and a wood chip fire on Te Puke Highway in the early hours of November 4 – that kept us busy for about three hours.

Our crews attended the Fairhaven School Fireworks Gala on Saturday night and enjoyed interacting with the public for a few hours until the outstanding fireworks display capped off a great evening.

Shortly after 9.20pm we received a call to investigate the smell of gas at a property in Lee St.

After negotiating the traffic from the gala, we needed only to undertake an investigation, isolate the gas cylinders feeding the house and ensure it was safe for the family to return.

The residents were concerned they overreacted by calling us, however, in these cases it’s far better to be safe than sorry – we are more than happy to assist and ensure the home is safe.

If you have a strong smell of gas in your home, get everybody out, if possible ensure any gas hob is turned off on the way out and don’t return until the all-clear is given. If you can do so safely, it’s also okay to shut off the valves on the cylinders outside and then try to meet us at the gate.

Check out the brigade Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Te.Puke.Fire.Brigade