ALERT: A successful pager trial will mean better-informed crews and faster responses to call-outs.PHOTO/FILE
ALERT: A successful pager trial will mean better-informed crews and faster responses to call-outs.PHOTO/FILE
Pagers seem an obvious tool for alerting fire crews, but coverage can be fraught in rural areas.
However, a trial has determined that Ngawi, Tora, Tinui and Castlepoint are able to have pager coverage, with only Riversdale Beach missing out.
In the past, rural fire forces have relied on phonetrees and the depot fire siren.
The pagers and Infil repeater systems for the four rural fire forces were approved by the Wairarapa Rural Fire Districts board last month, thanks to a subsidy from the National Rural Fire Authority.
Rural fire office Grant Detheridge-Davies said the benefits of pagers included a larger turnout from crews, their continuing function during power cuts, communication beyond the hearing range of the sirens, and crews who were better informed.
Pagers can also provide information about the emergency, which means volunteers who respond in their own vehicles do not have to go to the fire depot first for information, he said.
The Ngawi Volunteer Fire Force pager system has been commissioned and is operational, with the other three systems being installed in the next six weeks.
More tests and trials will establish if a pager system can be established for the Rural Fire Force at Riversdale Beach.
