New Year 2026 Honours: Rissington firefighter Patrick O’Rourke awarded King’s Service Medal

Despite more than 30 years of serving Rissington’s volunteer fire brigade and community, Patrick O’Rourke was shocked to learn he was to be awarded a King’s Service Medal (KSM) in the New Year 2026 Honours List.

“You never do the job for a gong or anything like that,” he said.

O’Rourke, 68, joined the Rissington Rural Volunteer Fire Force and was appointed the area’s controller in 1999.

Since then, he has ensured the geographically isolated fire brigade northwest of Napier has remained a vital first responder to a wide range of emergencies, including countless fires, road accidents and weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle, where O’Rourke mobilised the brigade and wider community, establishing a temporary hub to connect residents with support services and donations from around the country during a three-week period of isolation from Napier and Hastings for Rissington post-cyclone.

Last year O’Rourke was rewarded with the Fire and Emergency NZ Gold Star, the highest volunteer firefighter award in the country, which he said he was humbled by.

“I’m humbled by this as well because there’s a lot of people around you in all that time, not only in the fire service, so I think this is for community as well,” he said.

“You don’t do this job on your own.”

Away from the brigade, O’Rouke is an active member of the Rissington community and lives with his wife Lesley on his family farm, now owned by his son and daughter-in-law, who he enjoys working for.