Firefighters drop their sandwiches

The car that was shunted from behind came off worst, but the ute lost its drive shaft. Photo / Peter Jackson

The Kaitaia Fire Brigade didn't have far to go to respond to a three-car crash in Kaitaia's main street on Thursday afternoon.

It happened right outside the station, an appliance needing only to more off the forecourt and it was there.

A fire brigade spokesman said one car had crashed into the rear of another as its driver waited for a ute coming from the opposite direction before turning right into Allen Bell Drive, the impact propelling it into the ute.

Only one person, the driver of the first car, was injured, suffering a superficial cut to one leg, but the second car was badly damaged, and the ute's drive shaft was left hanging underneath it.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Ross Beddows said firefighters were already at the station, having lunch in the midst of a pumping training course, when they heard the collision.

"We dropped our sandwiches (kindly made by the CFO's wife) and came out. It's the first time I've walked to an incident," he said.

His only concern at that stage was that some "human blowflies" might make a dash for the sandwiches before he could get back to them.

The accident started something of a flurry of activity for the brigade. It was followed 36 minutes later by a fence fire in Jameson St, which did not require action, and 20 minutes after that by what was reported as a house fire in Lake Rd.

That was an unattended pot on a stove, Beddows said, the occupant doing a "pretty good job" of putting it out with a garden hose.

"It was just long enough. A couple of metres further away and he would have been in trouble," he said.

The fire did minor damage to the stove surrounds, but the crew used a thermal imaging camera, checked the ceiling cavity and ventilated the house before returning to their course.