Sharply-dressed Gisborne firefighters flee Anzac service to car crash

A well-dressed bunch of Te Karaka Volunteer Fire Brigade members, fresh from an Anzac service, stand next to a car which crashed into a ditch on SH2 overnight. Photo / TKVFB

No sooner were they standing alongside colleagues at their local Anzac service than rural Gisborne firefighters were heading off to a car crash.

The Te Karaka volunteer crew turned out to be the best dressed on the scene of where a car had flipped upside down on its roof into a ditch on Matawai Rd just after 6.30am today.

Firefighters were called about 20 minutes later, and were sent from where they had been attending the service at nearby Whatatutu.

In a post on their Facebook page, the way they were dressed wasn't lost on them, with one writing "we don't always get dressed this flash for a callout".

Brigade members at the Whatatutu dawn parade had to make a quick exit this morning (we don’t always get dressed this flash for a callout)

Posted by Te Karaka Volunteer Fire Brigade on Wednesday, 24 April 2019

Despite their efficient efforts, a Central Fire and Emergency spokesman said no sooner had the crew arrived than they were sent off after securing the car with security tape.

A police spokeswoman said officers from Gisborne were called to the scene just after 6am after a report of a car overturned in a drain.

The car had been abandoned and the driver nowhere to be found.

Officers were making area inquiries and organising a tow truck.

Meanwhile, a local woman commented on the post that it was her car in the photos and it had been stolen from her driveway hours earlier.

"Pretty bummed for me and my baby. This car was a Christmas gift to me from my gorgeous fiancé in 2017. Done me well this car, and got me near and far and she knew whoever was behind the wheel last night wasn't its rightful owner!"