Pāpāmoa fire station, on Parton Rd, will likely be silent at night now after a complaint of it disturbing a resident. Photo / File
Pāpāmoa fire station, on Parton Rd, will likely be silent at night now after a complaint of it disturbing a resident. Photo / File
Pāpāmoa's emergency fire siren is expected to be permanently silenced at night after prompting one single complaint in six months.
In October, the Bay of Plenty Times first revealed the Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade was subject to a six-week trial of operating without the siren at night after a complaintit disturbed a resident.
A response to an official information request since then has confirmed plans to make the nightly silencing permanent. However, this was news to the brigade staff, who plan to meet in February to discuss the siren's future.
Pagers and cell phones are typically the primary alert system for New Zealand volunteer fire brigades such as Pāpāmoa which involves firefighters dropping what they're doing to head to the station in urgent response. Sirens are considered a fail-safe system if the pagers and phones don't work.
Te Puke fire chief Glenn Williams says the brigade relies on the siren at night when pagers and cellphones don't work. Photo / File
A breakdown of siren complaints obtained by NZME involving all Bay of Plenty and Central Lakes area stations revealed three complaints made to Fire and Emergency NZ between June 1 and November 9, this year.
One complaint involved the Pāpāmoa fire station, another the Ngongotahā station and the third involved Te Puke. Now, only Te Puke's siren still sounds at night.
The Pāpāmoa complaint was made on September 5. The siren was activated in the morning of August 29, at 1.13am and 4.38am, when the brigade responded to two medical incidents.
Fire and Emergency NZ deputy chief executive Raewyn Bleakley said the organisation met with the brigade and it was decided the siren would be silenced overnight from September 8 for a six-week trial period.
"Following that trial Fire and Emergency Area Management decided to recommend the siren remains silenced between 10pm and 6am."
The fate of the Pāpāmoa station's siren follows that of the siren at Ngongotahā's fire station, near Rotorua, which was turned off in July after a single complaint.
On July 13, FENZ received a complaint about the use of the Ngongotahā station siren at 1.30am when the brigade responded to an electrical hazard incident.
"I can confirm that following the complaint, the station siren has been silenced between 10pm and 6am," Bleakley said.
Ngongotahā fire station. Photo / File
Pāpāmoa firefighter Brent Sandford said there had been plenty of community support for the siren's use since the trial began and he was aware of an online petition gaining about 2000 signatures from people keen to have it stay.
"Most of them want it back on because when they phone for help, they know someone's coming and that in itself is a relief for them - that's come from all ages, from teenagers who have rung for help to adults."
Sandford said the brigade was not aware of the decision to recommend silencing the siren and said incidents in which it sounded twice in a night happened about three times a year.
He was surprised at the decision but hoped education about the need for the siren could be an option instead of silencing it. The brigade will meet next month to determine the siren's fate.
Ngongotahā fire chief Tai Thompson said the brigade had not experienced any issues since going without the siren at night. The pagers and phones appeared to be working fine despite taking "a bit of getting used to", he said.
On October 12 a complaint was received about the Te Puke station siren, which had been activated that day at 12.47am and 3am when the volunteer brigade responded to two suspicious fires and back up was needed.
Te Puke fire chief Glenn Williams put a post on the brigade's Facebook page explaining the reasons for the two siren activations and apologising for any disturbance caused.
Williams said at the time he was concerned the brigade could lose their siren and if that were the case "our community wouldn't take it lying down". The siren was more reliable than alternative methods, he said.
Kevin Cowper, Bay of Plenty coast area manager for Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Photo / File
Other firefighters who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times anonymously expressed frustration a single complaint could result in such measures despite more members of the community indicating they'd like it to stay.
Bay of Plenty coast area manager Kevin Cowper confirmed there was a meeting with the Pāpāmoa brigade's management team on December 7 when it was discussed that figures showed silencing the siren between 10pm and 6am had no impact on response times.
From June 1 to August 31, 2020, (before the siren was silenced overnight) there were 15 callouts between 10pm and 6am. The average time taken from the first alert to the fire truck leaving the station was six minutes and four seconds.
From September 1, 2020, to January 10, 2021 (during the siren trial) there were 14 call outs between 10pm and 6am. The average time taken from the first alert to the fire truck leaving the station was five minutes 57 seconds.
Cowper said it was agreed to extend the trial over the holiday period "and it is expected there will be another meeting in the next month or so with the brigade to look at making this arrangement permanent".
Other Bay of Plenty and Central Lakes stations already operating without sirens are Tauranga, Kawerau, Mount Maunganui, Taupō, Rotorua and Greerton.
However, these were career or paid stations, meaning they had firefighters on-site 24/7, unlike volunteer stations such as Pāpāmoa, Ngongotahā and Te Puke.
In October residents in Oxford, North Canterbury, successfully opposed the planned removal of the local fire siren.
A FENZ spokesperson said at the time removing the siren was about reducing noise and inconvenience for the community.
