Behind the scenes at Foxton Beach firefighters training

Training is fun as well as important! Photos / Jacob Brookie

Across Foxton, volunteers from every walk of life are helping the community in almost every way you can think of. In this occasional series of photo articles, Foxton’s MAVtech Museum photographer Jacob Brookie is using vintage cameras from the museum’s collection to show a day in the life of our town’s volunteers.

No matter what the time of day, the sound of the fire station siren means help is on the way. Volunteer firefighters attend far more than just fires – they also respond to urgent medical calls, vehicle accidents, calls to help ambulance crews, search and rescue, creating landing zones for rescue helicopters, securing roofs lifting in a storm, managing flooding – to name just a few. They also help neighbouring brigades when extra support is needed.

QFF Jordan Dunweg packs up the hose at the end of training.

The volunteers never know what the next callout will be – the only way to be prepared is to practise everything. So, every Monday at 7.30pm, the Foxton Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade hosts a training session, and MAVtech’s cameras recorded a recent one.

The Foxton Beach brigade currently has 15 volunteers who drop what they’re doing at any moment to turn out to emergency incidents – either at the beach or as far as Foxton, Himatangi, Waitārere and Shannon.

Its three new recruits, Emma, Alana and Katrina, are preparing for their recruits’ course at Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s national training centre in Rotorua next year. This challenging course involves being sent into a controlled-structure fire wearing breathing apparatus – an amazing experience and one of the final tests before a recruit qualifies.

QFF Brenden Johnstone and SFF Neil Robbie at the fire engine's pump controls.

But no matter how long a volunteer has been serving, it is always important to practise the basics. The training session pictured here is a hose drill, with crews running out hoses and other volunteers at the fire engine’s pump controls. On a fireground, there will also be scene protection and crews getting into breathing apparatus ready to approach the fire. With teams inside and outside of a structure fire needing to co-ordinate, radio communication is practised as well.

Part of the training session focused on operating a water pump towed by the brigade’s latest addition – an off-road response vehicle. Bought with the help of fundraising from the New World community golf day and Horowhenua District Council financing from the Foxton Beach Freeholding Account, the response vehicle can attend emergencies on the beach and sand dunes where the truck cannot go.

Members of the brigade on parade before the beginning of training.

It can also transport additional crew to incidents and respond to medical events. Thanks to the Foxton Community Op Shop and the New Year’s Fair, additional equipment is being added to the vehicle.

Volunteer Jaimee Brannigan has been a firefighter with the brigade for eight years. She grew up in an emergency services family, saying it’s in the blood. “I love not only serving my community but being there to help in someone’s time of need.

“The comradery of the brigade and having that wider family is certainly something special to be a part of. I also love that I can show my children that you can do anything, whatever your gender. My son is my biggest fan and I often hear him talking away about his mum coming to help whilst playing with his many toy fire trucks. That’s something to be proud of.”

SSO Ashley Banks keeps watch by the fire engine.

You can check the Foxton Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest news. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, visit Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s website for details, or contact the brigade. You can also see the team at the station during the New Year’s Fair on January 2. Jaimee urges anyone interested in volunteering to “dive in and do it – you won’t look back”.

Jacob used his 1966 Marshal Press camera to take the colour photographs and a 1956 Lipca Rollop Automatic camera for black and white pictures. While Jacob mostly takes photographs in black and white, the bright uniforms and equipment worked well in colour. The Marshal Press is an old newspaper camera and may have covered many emergencies in the 1960s, but this is probably the first time it has photographed the training. To see more of these photographs, visit www.mavtech.org.nz.