Rural fire team under threat of folding

File photo / NZ Herald

A Northland rural fire service is close to folding because of a lack of volunteers.

Whangaruru is the latest of the region's rural brigades experiencing a shortage of firefighters - a situation that could put lives at risk.

The Whangarei District Council has been working with the Whangaruru community, about 55km north of Whangarei, for two years to bring volunteer numbers and systems to a safe standard for responding to emergencies.

But council spokeswoman Ann Midson said it had been difficult to increase the numbers sufficiently in order to develop the required safety systems and undertake necessary training.

"Whangaruru has a pool of eight [volunteer firefighters] but not all are available all the time, and they really need a minimum of 12 fully trained members living in the immediate area and able to respond when called," Ms Midson said.

She said that for the past two years, emergencies that the Whangaruru brigade would have attended had been covered by the New Zealand Fire Service's crew in Hikurangi and the Far North District Council-managed team at Rawhiti.

"Because these two outfits are well able to take care of emergencies in the area, we are now talking with the Whangaruru Rural Fire Service about winding up the team," she said.

"If that were to happen, the personal protective equipment and radios at Whangaruru would be re-deployed to our Maungakaramea and Whananaki teams."

In rural communities, especially during difficult economic times, she said people often performed many different jobs at once.

"When a person is carrying out three or four roles in a community, taking on a job like rural [firefighting] - dangerous work with unpredictable hours, requiring a good level of training and physical fitness, on a volunteer basis with no pay - can be last on the list.

"Throughout New Zealand over the past few decades we have seen these kinds of services shrink across the country."

The Whangaruru brigade has been in existence for 23 years.

Wekaweka, 74km southwest of Kaikohe, is experiencing similar problems. Last year volunteer numbers dropped from 14 to five.

In Kawakawa, a shortage of day-time volunteers meant appliances remained at the station during emergencies last year.