Firefighters from Fiji get stuck into the cyclone cleanup

Fijian firefighter Epeli Roko says getting stuck in to help out after disasters is what they do. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

By Robin Martin of RNZ

Among the hundreds of contractors and residents on Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up duties in the Esk Valley is a small team of Fijian firefighters.

Part of a deployment that also included 26 Fijian Defence Force personnel, the three firefighters have been getting their hands dirty, mucking out homes and businesses across Hawke’s Bay.

Rawinia Anderson’s family home in Esk Valley took the full force of Cyclone Gabrielle and has been yellow-stickered.

The wall linings and some windows have already been removed and the painstaking job of digging out piles of silt was underway.

She was getting help from some outside muscle - the three firefighters from Fiji.

Fijian firefighters and other volunteers help clean out Rawinia Anderson's family home in Esk Valley. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

Senior officer Epeli Roko said it was the least they could do.

“In 2006 there was a big hurricane in Fiji which destroyed most parts of Fiji, so the New Zealand Army -they came there to assist our villages, those in need,” Roko said.

“So when this happened the government sort of bring some army personnel, some firefighting personnel to come and help.

“New Zealand needs military services’ help, so we are here to help.”

Roko said he had never seen anything like the devastation in the Esk Valley before.

“No, it’s too much.”

Rawinia Anderson's Esk Valley family home has been yellow-stickered. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

He said the firefighters had spent most of their time here on the ends of shovels, and they were happy to be helping out.

“We’ve been doing cleaning and all sorts of things in all sorts of communities. Mostly cleaning.”

Hastings firefighter Tiomai Aiolupotea was helping to coordinate his Fijian colleagues’ efforts.

“Yesterday we were helping out at the Taylor Corp’s packhouse and some of the Fijian RSE workers were working there.

“So, there was plenty of help there, so we managed to get this address and here we are, and the boys are hard at work.”

He was enjoying getting stuck in with them.

“Our mission here today is to clear out this shed and tomorrow we’re lucky to be back here by the looks of it.

“It’s good to be out in the community, it’s better than just being at the station. There’s work to be done at the station, but I prefer to be out here getting dirty amongst the boys.”

The volunteers at work clearing silt, parts of the damaged buildings, and other debris, at Rawinia Anderson's Esk Valley home. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

Anderson said there was a lovely symmetry to the Fijian firefighters coming to her aid.

Her son, Philip, who was an engineer in the New Zealand Defence Force, had done cyclone relief work in Fiji himself.

“He was just explaining it to the guys, that he was over there helping them set up a school, putting in water and power, so that they could have somewhere to stay until they cleaned up something like this, so it’s amazing to see them here.”

And there was plenty of work for them to do before they return to Fiji.

-RNZ