Person of the Month: Firefighter Russell Cook

Rotorua's Russell Cook will celebrate a special anniversary on Boxing Day - 26 years of voluntary service as a firefighter and providing support to the New Zealand Fire Service.

Mr Cook is today named The Daily Post Person of the Month for December after he was nominated by Central Lakes area commander Graham Fuller for his work in overseeing members of the Rotorua Operational Support Unit who volunteered their services during the fire at Warehouse Stationery last week.

The unit, made up of 15 members, responded to 107 calls so far this year.

Their role includes setting up cordons and road blocks, providing lighting for police in the case of a crash and providing food and drinks to the firefighters.

Thursday a week ago Mr Cook and 11 volunteer members of the unit responded to the fire at Warehouse Stationery.

They set up cordons and put in road blocks along Amohau St. They also provided food for the many firefighters and helped roll the hoses up.

Mr Cook said he arrived at 6.15am and didn't get home until 5pm.

For the past three years Mr Cook has been the station officer of the Rotorua Operational Support Unit. Members of the unit are not involved in fighting fires but Mr Cook was also a volunteer firefighter for 23 years before joining the unit.

He became a volunteer firefighter as a teenager growing up in Titahi Bay, and has been a volunteer firefighter for 12 different units over the years.

He sees his work as a volunteer as something he can do to help the local community and he also liked fighting fires.

"I've never wanted to do it as a paid job.

"I'm pretty happy with the paid jobs I've had," said the self-employed contractor.

Mr Cook said he liked the "buzz" of being able to help people at the scene of an emergency but the downside of that was that it could keep him up in the early hours of the morning.

He said he also enjoyed the camaraderie of the fire service and had made many true friends over the years.

He used to work in Gisborne with one of the officers from Hamilton who attended the Warehouse Stationery fire. They gave each other a hug, shook hands and were able to have a catch-up.