Fire volunteers save the day

The Kaitaia Fire Brigade recorded a good save when a house in Donald Road caught fire on Monday, but the incident highlighted the extent of the community's reliance on the goodwill of many people according to Station Officer Ross Beddows.

The urgency of this particular situation had been exacerbated by the failure of the pump switch on the first appliance to arrive, which rendered the hoses useless. The nearest hydrant was a significant distance away, further up the hill.

"It was frustrating and embarrassing having the pump switch fail, but these things happen," Mr Beddows said, although the problem had significant ramifications.

"I have to say how very much we appreciated the release from work of three of our firefighters following the siren being activated a second time (four turned out to man the first appliance). Juken NZ, Kaitaia Redan Auto Electrical and Rogers & Rogers Plumbing all let an employee leave work to respond, and I am not exaggerating when I say that this was a major contributing factor in saving the home from a lot more fire damage," he said.

"Four firefighters cannot, in most instances, successfully fight a house fire, and the arrival of a second crew as soon as possible is absolutely crucial."

Fortunately Kaitaia could rely on Mangonui to assist when needed, but that brigade had the same issues as most other volunteer brigades in terms of manning appliances during working hours, and was obviously 20 minutes or more away, at best.

"We appreciate that many employers just cannot have firefighters leaving work constantly to attend emergencies, but those who sacrifice productivity in order to allow the community at large to benefit from a quick response from their local fire brigade fully deserve the appreciation and gratitude of that community," Mr Beddows added.

Meanwhile the Donald Road fire was preceded by three minor callouts on Saturday, an early morning false alarm at Juken's veneer mill in Kaitaia followed by a couple of minor vegetation fires on Kaimaumau Road and Allen Bell Drive Kaitaia.

A more serious blaze at Paua on Sunday afternoon resulted in the destruction of a garage and vehicle when jumper leads that were being used to start a car started a fire that quickly consumed the garage. The owners managed to prevent the fire from taking hold on the adjacent house until an appliance arrived from Pukenui. A Kaitaia appliance and Pukenui's water tanker also responded.

The cause of the Donald Road fire had not been definitively identified yesterday but the indications were that it began in the ceiling above one of the bedrooms. An electrical or wiring fault had not been ruled out, Mr Beddows said.