Bonanza fundraiser gathers $11k for Kaitaia Fire Brigade

Former fire chief Colin Kitchen speaks at the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza prizegiving while organiser John Stewart holds a giant cheque for $11,000.

An auction of fish donated during last week’s Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza has raised a whopping $11,000 for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade.

After weigh-in the contestants were given the choice of keeping their fish or donating it to charity, and many opted for the latter.

The fish were then sold to the highest bidders at the Kaitāia Market on Saturday morning.

The amount raised was almost double that of the last Bonanza fish auction, in 2021, that raised just over $6000.

Former fire chief Colin Kitchen said the donation would be a great help to the brigade, which was operated entirely by volunteers who were available 24/7 without recompense.

The funds could help pay for a project now underway to build sleeping quarters at the station.

That would be used by volunteers who lived out of town but also those who worked during the day but wanted to be available for call-outs during the night.

During the five-day fishing tournament, the brigade had been called out to two serious house fires, Kitchen said.

One destroyed a home on State Highway 1 at Awanui while the other badly damaged a house at Waipapakauri Ramp, just a few hundred metres from Bonanza headquarters.

The brigade had a tanker stationed at the competition base all week so a crew was able to get to the fire quickly and bring it under control.

Later that day, Bonanza contestants raised $2100 for the affected family, who had lost many of their possessions to smoke and fire damage.

After the final prizegiving on Saturday, one of the prizewinners donated their newly- on 65-inch television to the family.