Then the crew went around the outskirts of the town doing the same thing, and out to the Te Araroa Holiday Park to make sure everyone there was evacuated.
“The owner had opted to stay behind, but everyone else got to safety OK.
“Then we went back into town for a final look around, to check again that the motorhomers at the motor home park had all moved to safety too.”
Then the crew headed up Hospital Hill on State Highway 35 above the town.
“We made sure everyone up there was doing OK, then went back to the fire station, which is a good 3-4 metres above sea level, to see what developed.
“We knew that if a tsunami did come we could safely drive back to high ground.”
Dick Cook, aged 64, has been responding like that in the service of the Te Araroa community since 1979, three years after he and Aomihi moved up there from Gisborne.
Aomihi was brought up by her Nanny Keita Kohere at Rangiata, East Cape then Te Araroa by her parents Brownie and Turahiri Waikari.
“My whanau are so special to me. Hence we moved to TA,” she said.
Dick was born in Gisborne, went to St Mary's School and Campion College before leaving school to work in the Regent billiard saloon as a marker, mowing lawns, a stint at the Gisborne Refrigerating Company, and the Education Ministry as a school groundsman.
The couple moved to Te Araroa when Dick took up a role as caretaker at Te Waha O Rerekohu Area School.
They have lived there ever since, bringing up their three boys there — David and his whanau now live in Gisborne, John and whanau in Palmerston North, and Keith and whanau in Hastings.
Dick has been a firefighter in Te Araroa for 42 years, and Chief Fire Officer there for 30 years.
He has received from Fire and Emergency NZ (previously the NZ Fire Service) the five- year silver bar, the good conduct medal, the 25-year Gold Star and the Volunteer of the Year Medal.
“When Aomihi and I first came to Te Araroa in 1976, they were a bit short on guys for the fire brigade, so a bit later on I joined up.
“I have always got so much satisfaction out of being there to serve my community, and also helping the young ones coming through.
“We could do with a few more young ones now actually.”
The Te Araroa FENZ volunteer brigade currently has 11 active firefighters and several ‘operational support' volunteers, one of whom is Dick's wife.
“We've got some who work at the school, in the forestry, we've got a truck driver and stay-at-home mums. Most of our members are women, only three are men,” Dick said.
“Being a woman is no barrier at all to being a firefighter. They do all the same training and firefighting that we (the men) do.”
Dick and Aomihi have operated Cooks Passenger and Courier Services from Te Araroa to Gisborne and back for 32 years.
“I am completely confident that when I am away during the day running our business, the Te Araroa community is in safe hands.
“I know the fire crew will do what has to be done, without question.”
The Cooks passenger and courier vehicle goes up and down State Highway 35 six days a week.
“The highway is in perfect condition mate,” he said with a wry chuckle when asked about it.
“Seriously, it has not got much better. It's still a hazardous piece of road from Tokomaru Bay north.”
He has a head full of recollections from so many years of attending fires, bad crashes, and numerous other emergencies in his district.
“The bad ones stand out. Fortunately we've not had a fatal house fire, but sadly there have been plenty of fatal road crashes. Too many.
“You don't ever get used to attending those.
You just put the new one in the back of your head and it takes the place of the last one.”
Dick and Aomihi love living in Te Araroa.
“There are so many people here that I've grown up with through my life.
“We're just about the kaumatua up here now.
“I love the beach, the kina, the crayfish. The beach is our kapata Kai . . . and I love the people.
“Besides Aomihi doesn't want to leave either, and she has been so supportive of me right through our marriage.
“I could not do what I do with the fire brigade without her.
“No one could do it without the great support of their wife.”
Dick said he has no plans to retire from FENZ in the immediate future.
“I will keep going until they get rid of me,” he said.
That will not happen any time soon, given the highly quality of his service to his beloved top-of-the East Coast community.
