A big thank you

BUSY NIGHT: Masterton senior firefighters Paul Thompson (left), Barry Baxter, Murray Pike and Garry Nielsen had their work cut out for them during Wednesday's storm, attending around 60 calls.

While we sheltered, teams of professionals battled the worst storm of the year to keep our community safe and functioning. They'll shrug and say, 'It's all part of the job', but we just want to say, thank you for being outstanding when we really needed it.

For the crew down at Masterton Fire Station, it was all in a crazy day's work as gales blew to 120km/h and thousands lost power across Wairarapa on Wednesday.

Station manager Garry Nielsen said firefighters were bombarded with calls from around 2pm, when a truck was blown off Paierau Rd, until 8.45pm when the wind finally began to die down.

"We had a big number of incidents," said Mr Nielsen. "We had about 60-odd calls, plus a few more overnight. At one stage, we had a backlog of about 25 calls. We were constantly moving from job to job."

Assisted by a crew from Rimutaka Fire Station, firefighters spent the evening securing damaged roofs, removing fallen trees from power lines and fences, and providing other assistance, such as helping prevent leaks within homes.

"There were cases where it was too dangerous for us to climb on slippery roofs," said Mr Nielsen. "So, for one job where the roof was damaged, we helped a family move furniture around to save it from any potential leaks."

The crew were also called out to commercial buildings where signs had come loose. Mr Nielsen was most concerned about the loose signage, as it had potential to cause major injury.

"We came across a lot of signs that were poorly attached to the buildings.

"Some of them are aluminium, about three sheets thick. You're talking about a razor blade flying through the air."

When working in extreme weather conditions, firefighter safety is paramount, said Mr Nielsen. "If a situation is unsafe, we can't always do the impossible," he said. "A building can always be repaired, but you can't replace firefighters - or members of the public."

Mr Nielsen said Wednesday's storm was "up there" with some of the worst storms he's had to work in.