Firefighters' long service rewarded

Volunteer firefighters are on-call 24/7 and for men like Paul Hudson, Marton's chief fire officer, and Bill Down, it's all in a day or night's work.
The two men will be honoured for their longevity fighting fires and being on the front-line at accidents in the Rangitikei region, at a special dinner next Saturday.
Mr Hudson, who is being honoured for 50 years' service, said he would do it all again but next time around as a career.
"It's a good life to be a part of the fire service and being able to help people," said Mr Down, who has 25 years of service.
Speed counts in this job and these firefighters say they are the fastest in the region, with an on-average turnout in 3 to 4 minutes. And no, they cannot break the speed limit but it's getting to the station quickly, pulling on their gear and getting on the road that matter.
Volunteer firefighters are not paid, so why do they do a job that gets them out of bed in the middle of the night, running across sharp stones in bare feet, heading into the unknown of a job that could be a fire or a fatal accident?
"It's someone who has community awareness," they say.
Any of the jobs can be stressful, especially if they are at a major fire with everything crashing down around them.
In the past 10 years, the Critical Stress Unit has been in place and a counsellor will be in contact when the men return to the station.
There is also the camaraderie of the men who have worked together for their community all these years, and a cup of tea and a chat goes a long way in the debrief, they say.
Then it's back to normal mode, and either back to bed or back to work.
In the mid-1970s the Fire Service Commission nationalised the service and took over from the borough councils.
It also took the pressure off the men to raise funds for their equipment.
In the past they had to raise $200,000 for special cutting equipment, which they needed at accidents.
These days the station receives a social grant from the New Zealand Fire Service, and all their uniforms are sent to Auckland after jobs for cleaning and repairs, if required.
The Marton Volunteer Fire Service has two fire trucks, a relief truck and a tanker.
There are 30 men in total who volunteer for the service but, of them, only 10 work in Marton through the day and are available for a call-out.
A lot of the men worked away from Marton.
A firefighter can enter the service at 18, or 16 with their parents' permission.
Over a three-year period the town lost 2000 jobs, which shrank the pool for potential firefighters.
Marton firefighters cover SH1 from Greatford to Porewa near Hunterville, SH3 from Pukepapa Rd to Turakina, support Bulls, Hunterville, Ratana and Halcombe, and are a back-up for Wanganui.