Firefighters want benchmarks for volunteers out of review

Lake Okareka volunteer rural fire brigade Chief Fire Officer Philip Muldoon, right, said it would be beneficial to have clear benchmarks for volunteers, who made up 80 per cent of the service's work force. Photo / Ben Fraser

A Rotorua volunteer chief fire officer is welcoming a government review into the way the fire service operates, which could see services combined.

Submissions close today on the biggest review of the service since the 1940s.

A document released by Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne suggests three options - enhanced status quo, a co-ordinated national service delivery or one national fire service.

Lake Okareka volunteer rural fire brigade Chief Fire Officer Philip Muldoon favours one national fire service and said it would be beneficial to have clear benchmarks for volunteers, who made up 80 per cent of the service's work force.

He said his brigade attend training sessions off their own bat.

"We [Rotorua fire services] overlap in current areas. To have a common training objective would be very beneficial.

"Just the fact that some jobs we do double a little bit. We could definitely do with some structured firefighting training and more vegetation training."

Mr Muldoon did have reservations about the proposals.

"It is a little bit of a concern for us because we have fundraised to have our own fire appliances and would not take kindly to being told our fire appliance is going to another place. I think on the whole it is good."

His team often assisted in non-fire emergencies, like medical callouts.

"We are often helping St John's. They are often a bit understaffed, so sometimes we help them with transportation. There could be more training around that."

Rotorua Lakes Council spokesman Richard Horn said volunteer firefighters played an important role in the service.

"Regardless of which operational structure central government chooses to run with for the fire service, we expect there will continue to be an important role for our volunteer firefighters for the foreseeable future.

"It is, however, essential that government funding continues to be made available for local volunteer services, to ensure they are appropriately resourced to undertake their critical services."