As many as 46 separate brigades in Manawatu-Whanganui unite for the first time

Group Manager of Whanganui Aaron Summerhays with newly appointed District Manager Nigel Dravitzki. Photo / Bevan Conley

Manawatu-Whanganui's newly appointed District Manager sees the recent Fire and Emergency restructure as key to levelling its ability to respond across the board.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand restructured in late September, creating the country's first unified firefighting organisation.

The firefighting organisation now becomes 17 new districts, replacing a historic split where there were 24 urban areas and 18 rural fire districts across the country.

Under the new structure, all brigades and stations will sit together under their respective district managers.

Forty-six previous urban and rural brigades in the the region have combined to form the Manawatu-Whanganui district, headed by new district manager Nigel Dravitzki.

"It has become a very big district."

The district covers a large area across the North Island, spanning from just north of Taumaranui, all the way down to Levin.

Former senior station officer Aaron Summerhays will be one of the four group managers under Dravitzki, in charge of the Whanganui region.

"Coming over to become a group manager, my role is just a bit bigger and making sure we are unified with rural volunteers, making sure they have what they need," Summerhays said.

"Also looking after the Whanganui Station and making sure senior station officers can do their job nice and easily with my support."

Summerhays said internal training systems have had to change and adapt over the years as the crew is getting called to a wide range of accidents and incidents.

National Commander Kerry Gregory says Fire and Emergency's work goes a lot further than putting out fires and the new teams will reflect its wider remit.

He alluded to the increased role Fire and Emergency has undertaken over the years, responding to more frequent and severe natural disasters as well as more road accidents and medical callouts.

"Reducing the risk of fire is the single most effective thing we can do in seeking to protect New Zealand's people, property and environment. Our new structure enables us to put an increased focus on risk reduction and supporting communities to be resilient and able to recover more quickly from the impact of emergencies."

Dravitzki has been working alongside key partners such as police and St Johns to ensure they are strategically all on the same page.

"The purpose of it is to provide a long-term look at how we provide our services to better suit the needs," he said.

"Together we are trying to get better outcomes for the commununity. We are trying to get a connection at a higher level."

Risk reduction was also another big point of emphasis through the restructuring process.

Dravitzki said there will be no visible change from the public to how FENZ responds to incidents.

"One thing I can guarantee is there is no change in service delivery to our communities, everything is going to happen exactly the same way. Everything on the trucks operates the same, it is just the management structure around it."