The legacy of the fire station pole: Relics being phased out nationwide due to health and safety

Fire and Emergency New Zealand's National Office made the decision to phase the poles out, at least a decade ago. Photo / File

Asked to picture a fire station, many of us have a vision of firefighters sliding down a pole puncturing through a multi-storeyed building, before racing out to battle the blaze.

But an Auckland firefighter says firemen's poles have become rare relics of the fire service's history - with only two left in the region as they are phased out with station upgrades.

The poles have been slowly disappearing "couple of decades", says central assistant area commander Roger Callister, due to concerns around health and safety.

Speaking to the Herald today, on International Firefighters Day, Callister said too many staff had injured themselves on the poles in years past.

Today is International Firefighters’ Day! Our career and volunteer firefighters dedicate their lives to helping their local communities& keeping them safe. Today is a chance to say "thank you" to all those amazing men & women!👩‍🚒 👨‍🚒 👏 #internationalfirefightersdaynz pic.twitter.com/wMbkaGhOy2

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) May 4, 2018

"National office had identified them as too much of an accident risk," he said.

It was therefore decided as stations were upgraded, they would be rebuilt or redesigned without the poles.

Callister himself can testify to the harm pole-sliding can cause.

"I've hurt myself a few times.

"The [Pitt St] station's fireman's pole is three storeys high.

"If you let go at 3 storeys then you're at risk of serious injury... basically you come down and you don't stand up."

Callister said fireman's pole sliding also required some forward thinking. To do so without injury you needed long sleeves and the correct type of footwear.

One of the last remaining poles within the Pitt St fire station was used sporadically. Callister said there was one other pole remaining in the Auckland region - he wasn't sure about the rest of the country.

Callister said he had memories of sliding down the poles as a young firefighter.

They were a "legacy of history" he said that was had been described in picture books and movies throughout history.

The move to phase out the poles mirrored a similar move implemented in American fire stations. Several stations in the US are said to have incorporated slides into their design as a replacement.

But for now, Callister said Kiwi firefighters were sticking to the stairs.

"And when we're taking the stairs, we're told to walk."