NZME Whanganui says thanks to firefighters who fought massive fire

The Whanganui Fire Brigade were gifted a platter of pitas from Whanganui NZME for their service in Saturday night's fire. Photo / Bevan Conley

To show recognition to the firefighters who worked tirelessly to extinguish a fire that tore through Whanganui's Thain's building on Saturday night, NZME Whanganui has gifted a hearty meal.

Every week PitaPit Whanganui teams up with NZME to reward a local business with a platter of pitas via the Hits Whanganui Facebook page.

Amanda Wood, Whanganui NZME senior media specialist, said this week the Whanganui Fire Service was nominated by one of the Hits Facebook followers for the tremendous effort they did with the Thain's building fire.

"After seeing this, we agreed that they thoroughly deserved the lunch shout, not only for Saturday but for all the work they do for our Whanganui community," Wood said.

The Whanganui fire service crew of eight who were on on Thursday morning were grateful for the lunch shout and said the public made their job easier on the Saturday night.

"By observing the cordons put in place, it really helped us to do our job, so big kudos to the public," said Charlie Bilby, the first firefighter on the scene.

Bilby said they were glad they were able to get home safe to their families and that no one else was injured.

Whanganui station officer Brian Coskerie said for a few new members in his team the fire was a career-defining call for them.

"It was a huge learning curve," he said.

"The defining initial action that we took when we arrived determined what happened."

The team enjoyed lunch together in a much more relaxed frame of mind than what they were in on Saturday evening.