Wairarapa rescuers head south

Government agencies in Wairarapa are sending their specialist hands and hardware southward to help get quake-ravaged Christchurch back on its feet.
DoC Wairarapa area manager Chris Lester said two crew cab vehicles and a large water pump and fire hose were taken to Wellington and loaded aboard the HMNZS Canterbury on Sunday night bound for the Garden City.
The dispatch of the Wairarapa equipment is part of a consignment of 22 vehicles making up a North Island Department of Conservation effort that will also soon include Wairarapa DoC workers with incident management training "to help restore Christchurch and relieve those emergency staff already working there", he said.
"We have people on standby with training in incident management who will be sent down as soon as the call comes that Christchurch needs fresh hands to help."
Greater Wellington Regional Council workers from Masterton have already left for Christchurch as part of a wider regional scheme launched by the civic authority that mirrors the DoC rescue effort.
For Christchurch work, the council has set aside five specialist vehicles and 20 council rescue team workers, including those who have already left, according to Jenny Rowan, chairwoman of the Wellington Regional Civil Defence emergency management group. "Our region is fortunate to have many people employed by our regional, city and district councils who have skills and experience that can be readily put to work in the Christchurch response and recovery efforts.
"We have identified a schedule of suitable people who are willing and able to be deployed to Christchurch and, in conjunction with the co-ordinating authorities down there, we will roster our people for as long as their services are needed," Ms Rowan said.
A team of 10 regional council building officers left on Sunday and were joined by five of their Porirua City, Kapiti Coast and Masterton district counterparts on Monday afternoon. Ms Rowan said 17 council water and wastewater repair staff had already travelled to Christchurch, and another three water and wastewater engineers from the council Capacity firm would soon be joining the team.
On Monday, Hutt City Council sent four building inspectors to Christchurch and 10 building inspectors left from Wellington City. "Council staff from around the region are continuing to provide round-the-clock staffing support to the National Crisis Management Centre in the Beehive basement," Ms Rowan said.