Ron Seconi and Marty Benton, who are both on the Ops Support team now, celebrated 50 years of service with the Whanganui Station in August. Photo / Bevan Conley
Ron Seconi and Marty Benton, who are both on the Ops Support team now, celebrated 50 years of service with the Whanganui Station in August. Photo / Bevan Conley
Two friends who grew up on the same street in Castlecliff have recently celebrated 50 years of service with Fire and Emergency.
At Fire and Emergency's Annual Honours Evening in August, Ron Seconi and Marty Benton were each awarded a Double Gold Star for 50 years' service.
Seconi and Bentongrew up on Polson St together, and whilst they weren't friends at the time, that quickly changed once they both became firefighters.
"We knew of each other," said Benton.
"The funny thing was, there was a whole group us from around that area that joined the fire service."
Benton was 17 and Seconi was 18 when they joined, looking for a job as they had both finished high school.
"I joined in 1968. I had an interview with the then Chief Fire Officer Matt Morton. He said there was a vacancy, be here at 8am, and by 9am I had been kitted with a helmet, a Lancer fire tunic and a pair of trousers. I was told if the bell rings, get on that machine."
Benton said he tried to join the police first, but was turned down.
"I found out there was a job at the fire station so I went and applied. The deputy at the time said, 'Can you start Thursday?' No recruit course, straight on to the truck. We attended seven fire calls that day."
Times have certainly changed since then, with it taking 12 months to get through the application process and three months recruit process.
Seconi and Benton have served their entire careers at the Whanganui station. Retired from the front line, they are now both on the Whanganui Ops Support team.
Marty and Ron at the annual honours evening in August. Photo / Supplied
Both have plenty of "war stories" filled with tragedy and heartbreak about those lost on some missions.
"I've got some bad memories. One of the biggest jobs was at a freezing works on the wharf in 1972. It was three or four storeys that was pretty much destroyed," said Benton.
"I can remember being on a hose inside, we were told to have a break. When I came back, the whole floor was gone so that was lucky. That was one of my close shaves, there were many."
Seconi reflects on one of his close calls.
"It was reported as a well-involved house fire with a person in it. I was told to jump through the window and as I got through it flashed over. I dropped to the ground, it was so intense. I was trying to survive. I was in there for at least 10 minutes lying on the floor until someone arrived."
The pair said being able to serve 50 years was an honour, with a combination of camaraderie with their peers and helping others as reasons to continue to serve the community.
"It is a very rewarding job," Benton said.
"It had its boring, repetitive routines but you never knew what you were going to do each day, you never knew where you would go.
"It just attracts a real quality type of guy to the workforce. It is an awesome career."
