The past 100 years have seen many changes for the brigade. Advancements in the structure of the service, technology and equipment has made the job of fighting fires easier but no less dangerous.
"The brigade was known as the cotton reel brigade back then because they were using a hand cart hose reel which looked like a cotton reel.
"In those early years, the brigade was lucky to attend five fires a year but now, we average about 160 call-outs."
Mr Weaver attributes this to people being careless and houses which are better insulated now and retained heat.
"An example of this is one of our recent call-outs to a house where an unattended pot of corn was left boiling on the stove and no one was home at the time. Also this is an electronic world we live in and the more gadgets we get, the more careless people have become."
During the past 100 years, about 200 volunteers have gone through the brigade with varying lengths of service from one month to more than 50 years. There have been 14 different appliances and one of these, a Ford V8, has been retained and is now the centrepiece of the brigade's fire museum.
"This was the third appliance the brigade had and we ran it from 1939 to 1979. The brigade then purchased it and, as a result, built the museum which now houses it along with other memorabilia from the the past 100 years. We actually restored the old engine about two years ago and she is in perfect running order and hasn't even done 10,000 miles. She's the jewel in our crown."
In 1956, a new station with one engine bay and a meeting room was built. Several years later, two more engine bays were added and, last year, the station was completely refurbished and brought up to earthquake standards.
"We are now operating out of a very up-to-date building and we are very proud of it. We also have two new Iveco fire appliances so we are quite grand now."
One of the biggest changes occurred in 1975 when the fire service was established. Prior to this, the Waipukurau Volunteer Brigade was run by a fire board, insurance council and the borough council.
"The whole face of the fire service changed for the better," Mr Weaver said.
The brigade also runs a rescue vehicle which operates from the top of the Takapau Plains to Te Aute and the coast. "We have seen and dealt with some pretty rough things. We attended 15 fatalities on the roads in 1992/93 and this really takes a toll on the guys." Battling a two-day fire at the old hospital is probably one of the biggest fires the brigade has had to tackle in its 100 years.. When the 111 call came in, the Waipukurau brigade was away fighting a fire in Porangahau. However, a response was still instant.
"It was a huge job and a big part of the building burned down. We had 18 fire appliances and 80 personnel and, by the end of it, we were exhausted. Although we swapped crews around, some of the guys and myself included, put in a 17-hour shift because we chose to keep going."
