Family just loves to put out fires

Harry Carter's 27 years service in the Portland Fire Brigade has been truly a family affair.
His son Lewis will have completed seven years service by December and his wife Jane, whom he met through the fire service, was a secretary for the Portland station for three years.
Mr Carter also leads a group of 12 fire cadets aged 11 to 15 years old, some of whom are sons and daughters of brigade members.
The family man is currently the longest serving volunteer and will be part of the Portland Brigade's 50th jubilee celebrations from July 11-13.
"I joined at 18, which was the youngest you could join. I would like to say that I joined for the benefit of the community but I joined for more selfish reasons - where else could you jump in a big red truck with the lights flashing and all that excitement?"
Chief fire officer Mark Gummer, who has given nine years service to Portland, said the station received about 80 call-outs a year.
There was only a small number of call-outs in the early years but that had grown steadily.
"When I started here it was pretty poor, the brigade only consisted of about eight volunteers. It was always a case of needing more," he said.
There are now 14 volunteers - including three women - who spend up to 30 hours a week working for the brigade.
He said the size of the community had changed and the short staff has had an impact on membership. However, he said as the facilities are significant and ever increasing, they were always recruiting more volunteers and "it is up to the community to take some ownership and put their hands up".
The firefighters attended a variety of call-outs, including crashes and vegetation fires. The hardest call-outs were when people had lost everything in a house fire.
Over the years the way the Fire Service dealt with traumatic situations has changed. "Initially there was an air of bravado, but now all that crap has gone out the window and we are encouraged to share. We have people set fire to themselves and to houses and we do not try to glorify those. We work through them and counsel each other and move on."
The hard times were tempered with the good, and the volunteers were debriefed after call-outs, he said.
"The trauma is over-dramatised. A big part of being a firefighter is all of us being together as family."
The brigade played a vital role in Portland last winter when a severe storm knocked out electricity for three days. Barbecues and gas cookers were set up at the station and firefighters gave hot drinks to members of the community.
Mr Gummer said the Portland Brigade counted about 150 past and current members.
Mayor Stan Semenoff, Whangarei District councillors and members of fire brigades from all over Northland are expected to attend this weekend's celebrations.
Portland Fire Brigade was established in 1958 with the support of Golden Bay Cement, formerly known as Wilson Cement.