Whangārei/Kaipara's Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant area commander Graeme Quensell, seen here at the fire of the Whangārei Municipal building on Bank Street last year. Photo / File
Whangārei/Kaipara's Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant area commander Graeme Quensell, seen here at the fire of the Whangārei Municipal building on Bank Street last year. Photo / File
Whangārei and Kaipara's Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant area commander is praising the region's volunteer fire services for their efforts during Friday night's extensive flooding.
Graeme Quensell, who has worked in Northland for almost four years, said Friday evening through to Saturday morning was the busiest he had ever experienced in his 43 years with the fire service.
About 220mm of rain fell in Whangārei over Friday evening and Saturday morning, causing major disruption with slips and landslides that closed roads and limited water supplies.
From 6pm Friday to 5.30am on Saturday, Northland's fire service registered 220 calls for help, with the majority of those calls being logged before midnight. At one point, there was a backlog of about 80 calls.
"It was quite hectic there for a while," Quensell said.
"We did have busy nights [in Auckland] but for Northland, that was a large number of calls over a large area and it is one of the busiest [nights] I can remember."
Quensell, who has worked in Northland for four years, praised the efforts of his volunteer officers. Photo / File
The majority of incidents attended to by the fire service involved houses being flooded or slipping, and people being stuck in their cars due to flooding on the road. About 20 people needed evacuating on Whangārei's Vale Rd due to flooding.
A Whangārei fire appliance also fell victim to the conditions. In the process of rescuing people trapped in their cars on Kaka St in Whangārei behind Mitre 10 MEGA, water flooded the engine and it needed to be towed away.
Despite the deluge of calls, Quensell said he was happy with how those receiving the calls co-ordinated with officers on the ground to prioritise aid to those who most needed it.
Apart from the Whangārei station, all fire services in Northland were manned by volunteers. Quensell said all those who braved the conditions did an exceptional job.
"They all stepped up to the plate and we are just lucky we've got such a great team that all worked together and went the extra mile when they needed to," he said.
Quensell said Friday night was the busiest he had ever experienced with the fire service. Photo / File
Even with an offer to boost crew numbers from Auckland, Quensell said good co-ordination between the fire service crews and Civil Defence ensured an appropriate and timely response to any incident.
Quensell said Friday's rainfall and subsequent flooding was an important reminder about how to prepare for such weather events.
"After a long drought period, you've just got to check your spouting and make sure the drains are all clear around your house.
"Streams rise so if you are in areas where you are prone to that, make that plan to move soon because the roads can be taken away pretty quickly, and if you don't have to go out on the roads, then don't."
Quensell said while it would be quite emotional for people to see their house filling with water, he cautioned against taking drastic action.
"At the end of the day, the worst has happened and it's not going to get any worse so you're better off just finding yourself a safe place at home somewhere away from [the water] and ride it out until daylight.
