Hastings firefighter remembers the fifth level Waimarama blaze

REMEMBERING. Hastings firefighter Colin Beswick reminisces. PHOTO / WARREN BUCKLAND.

A year-on from the huge wild-fires that threatened homes in Waimarama, Hastings firefighter Colin Beswick still remembers the public reaction to the fire service's sterling efforts to protect people's property.

"It was one of those days, we had a few calls the day before at Colin White Rd down at Te Hauke, there had been few fires going on there. Then the day of the Waimarama job we had a Palmerston North crew here at the station and I was assigned to them for the day as a driver because of being local - and we were sent to Endsleigh Rd earlier in the morning to attend a grass fire. It was while we were attending that, the Waimarama job came in."

Mr Beswick said the speed of the fire and the way it grew in intensity showed how serious an issue it was going to be.

"By the time we had finished at Endsleigh Rd and got back to the station in Hastings to re-commission, it had gone up three or four levels of seriousness. I said to the Palmerston guys when we got back that they grab their lunch because they probably won't be back unto the night - and that's exactly what happened.

"We have an alarm structure where each time the a;arm level goes up from Level One to a next level each alarm level increases the response. It's all pre-determined how many trucks, what sort of trucks and how many tankers attend. So when you put in a fifth alarm job, you know what you are going to get.

"So we ended up on top of the hill, and by then a lot of the burning had happened so it was pretty much just damp down - surround and drown - and save what's left."

The biggest enemy on the day for attending firefighters was the strength of the wind.

"So far we have been reasonably lucky this summer. It's reasonably dry but we haven't had the major winds like we did then.

"As it turned out that fire coincided with the big one in Christchurch - they lost a dozen houses and we lost one and scorched two or three others."

Now in his 40th year as a firefighter, Mr Beswick said he had pretty much "seen it all" when it came to fires but the Palmerston North crew were mostly attending their first real bush fire.

"The Palmerston guys were surprised as to how big it got and what it was, because generally, they don't see the conditions in the Manawatu that we do. So some of those guys, the experience they gained in one call here, would have been 10 years' worth of experience in Palmerston North.

"It was a big learning curve for everyone - even me, even if you seen it all before there is always something you take from it."

The most memorable experience however, was the public response the following day.

"The day after we were in the supermarket buying supplies for the station and the public were just never ending coming up to us. The public response was unreal and even weeks later people were dropping off food and cakes."