FIRE BOMB - New Zealand Fire Service
FIRE BOMB - New Zealand Fire Service
FIRE BOMB - New Zealand Fire Service
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There are times when it just feels good to be a firefighter.<br />
Phil Faidley knows. The Pukekohe<br />
volunteer received a heart-warming<br />
card from an appreciative 4-yearold<br />
after a trip to First Steps at<br />
Pukekohe Preschool.<br />
Phil had taken an appliance from<br />
the Pukekohe station along to the<br />
preschool during the last school<br />
holidays, and had a chat to the<br />
kids and their carers about fire<br />
safety. He emphasised the importance<br />
of having smoke alarms.<br />
“Most of the fun was clambering<br />
around the appliance and having<br />
a good old time,” Phil says.<br />
Later he received an envelope full<br />
of thank-you cards from the kids<br />
and some photos.<br />
Christchurch Green Watch enjoy a heated spa after<br />
their plunge into the ice pool.<br />
“This isn’t a strange thing, because<br />
we often get little gifts like that.<br />
The one that got to me was from<br />
young Tahi. This little gesture tells<br />
me that what we are doing is<br />
worthwhile, it is working, and we<br />
must continue.”<br />
The card (see on this page), shows<br />
that Phil’s message had got<br />
through in a very personal way.<br />
Tahi’s mother was pestered by<br />
Tahi to install smoke alarms and<br />
“now we have safe house”, Tahi<br />
wrote.<br />
“This is what it’s all about,”<br />
Phil says. “I feel really good.”<br />
Icy plunge helps heart kids<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />
It was all for a good cause.<br />
In the Community<br />
By Nick Ryan<br />
Four Christchurch City firefighters recently braved<br />
an icy five-minute plunge to raise funds for the<br />
Heart Children Charity. A pool filled with ice was<br />
set up in Cathedral Square, and several teams –<br />
including Green Watch’s Nick ‘Jed’ Ryan, Mike Balmer,<br />
Kelvin Hampton and Ralph Christophers – endured<br />
five minutes that would have had brass monkeys<br />
shrinking. Other agencies included NZ Police and<br />
Christchurch City Council staff.<br />
The weather on the day was itself chilly, prompting<br />
suggestions that it was warmer in the ice baths than<br />
it was out of them!<br />
The Heart Stopper Challenge was part of Heart Kids<br />
Week. Every week 12 babies are born in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong><br />
with a heart defect, and 450 require open heart surgery<br />
every year. Heart Children <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> is the only<br />
organisation dedicated to supporting heart kids and<br />
their families. It relies on funds from the community.<br />
August 2009<br />
9
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