Greytown firefighters carry Kiwi hopes

ACTION TEAM: The Greytown Fire Brigade team soon to leave for Australia wearing their New Zealand representative shirts, Peter Fisher (left, back), Geoff Allen, Matt Wos, Denis Fenwick (manager). Left, front Sharon Cretney ( medic), Kerry Fenwick ( team leader), AJ Dawes and Steve Perry.

A big week looms for the Greytown Fire Brigade's crash rescue team which is about to leave for Melbourne to contest the Australasian Challenge.

The team won the New Zealand Crash Rescue Challenge in March and, in Australia, will be one of three teams representing New Zealand United Fire Brigades Association.

Four new Holden vehicles await the team, one for practice and the others in three distinct competition scenarios being Entrapped, Time Critical and Controlled.

Team manager Denis Fenwick said hundreds of hours had been invested in training to refine the skills needed to perform at the highest level.

Twenty qualifying teams from across the Pacific are registered to compete in Melbourne including teams from Hong Kong and Singapore.

Mr Fenwick said the ultimate aim of road crash rescue was to improve skills to help the survival chances of people caught up in the horror of real road crashes.