Issue 86 - New Zealand Fire Service

December 2012 / Issue 86 

Crash 

alert 

Plus 

AntArctIc fIrefIghtIng 

type 1 prototype unveIleD 

frIDge explosIon whoDunIt

the new zeAlAnD fIre servIce 

Fire+Rescue is the flagship 

publication of the New Zealand 

Fire Service. 

It is produced by Media, 

Promotions and Communications, 

National Headquarters, 

Level 9, 80 The Terrace, Wellington. 

contrIbutIons to fIre+rescue 

We welcome ideas for articles, news 

and events that would be of interest to 

other Fire Service staff and volunteers. 

Draft articles and photos (pictures 

need to be at least 1MB) can be 

emailed to fire.rescue@fire.org.nz or 

contact the editor Karlum Lattimore 

on 04 496 3702. 

Post written material and photos, 

or photo CDs to: 

Fire+Rescue magazine, 

PO Box 2133, Wellington. 

(These will be returned on request.) 

www.fIre.org.nz 

All material in Fire+Rescue magazine 

is copyrighted and may not be 

reproduced without the permission 

of the editor. 

ISSN: 1176-6670 (Print) 

ISSN: 1177-8679 (Online) 

front cover 

Debris from a fatal B train crash 

sets off environment pollution alert. 

Photo: Turangi Brigade. 

2 / Fire+Rescue / December 2012 

alarm bells 

Forgot to turn 

the stove off 

A small, portable oven left on at a very low heat for almost two months is thought 

to have been the cause of a fire that gutted the top storey of an unoccupied house 

in Queenstown in September. 

Southern Region Fire Safety Officer Stuart 

Ide said that he and his Fire Service and 

Police colleagues first thought the fire was 

suspicious but a look at the power bill and 

the meter indicated human error was the 

most likely cause. The kitchen area of the 

house was burnt out which also supported 

the theory. 

“It seems that the small electric stove had 

been left on in the ‘low’ position. The 

contact would have been opening and 

closing, clicking on and off repeatedly. 

There was probably something 

combustible like a piece of paper nearby 

and we think that the heat generated by 

the stove, even at that low heat, would 

have been enough to start a fire. 

The rental property was unoccupied at the 

time so no one was hurt but the absentee 

owner of the ‘50s era holiday home lost 

everything in the blaze. 

“Its an unfortunate outcome for the owner 

but a salutary fire safety lesson and a 

reminder that when it comes to electrical 

appliances ‘off means off’ and ‘almost’ can 

be downright dangerous,” Stuart said.

news 

from the top 

I am now almost at the end of my first year as Chief Executive 

and National Commander. 

2012 has been incredibly challenging and 

rewarding. Everyone has worked 

extremely hard to bring about massive 

organisational changes. As we head into 

2013 we are still transitioning to the new 

structures but with more understanding 

of the vision and the benefits. 

I heard about one new Volunteer 

Support Officer recently, a former 

Senior Station Officer, who saw a career 

path opening up following the 

restructure. Instead of perhaps only 

being able to consider progression to 

Assistant Area Manager, he saw the 

refocused VSO role as a real opportunity 

to make a difference at the grass roots. 

So far, he’s finding it incredibly 

rewarding and is thoroughly enjoying 

the fresh perspective he’s getting. 

This type of new opportunity is just one 

of the benefits of the restructure. Our 

new Career Board will be used to 

identify future leaders and managers 

and help them grow into those roles. I 

am committed to working closely with 

the NZPFU on this initiative – finding 

the right people to fill our future 

leadership roles is crucial to this 

organisation’s success and wellbeing. 

One of the barriers to people 

progressing through the organisation 

has been the ‘them and us’ syndrome. 

We are a ‘people rich’ organisation and 

yet we often struggle to find a good pool 

of well-qualified candidates for 

leadership positions. 

I believe that if the rank and file want 

good, strong leadership, then they, too, 

need to be thinking about who among 

them would make good future leaders 

and managers. It would be great to see 

the union working in partnership with 

the organisation to identify, support and 

develop the next generation of leaders. 

It would be interesting wouldn’t it – to 

start thinking about who you would 

want as your manager and helping that 

person to get there? 

editorial 

Frankly, I am keen to develop a 

partnership with the NZPFU. It is time 

to put historical attitudes and 

grievances behind us and work more 

constructively on the shared challenges 

that confront us. 

We need to be united if we are to 

become the truly national fire and 

emergency service that the Government 

and the public expect us to be. Our 

experience in Christchurch has shown 

us that the different elements of the 

NZFS could have worked more closely 

together to achieve our common 

purpose. We did well, but we could have 

done even better. Let’s make sure that 

we learn from this and grow into an 

exceptional emergency service. 

Enjoy the holiday season and best 

wishes for 2013. 

Paul Baxter 

Chief Executive & National Commander 

Fire+Rescue / December 2012 / 3

feature 

Environmental apocalypse 

averted 

Firefighters turn out in all weathers to all kinds of incidents and often don’t know 

quite what they’ll find when they arrive. 

The 4.22am call out on 8 October to a 

truck crash on the Desert Road was 

no different. The Turangi Brigade 

turned out with its two pumps and the 

support vehicle a few minutes later. 

Chief Fire Officer Tong Kingi said the first 

appliance arrived half an hour later to a 

chaotic scene – a huge backlog of trucks 

on State Highway One, a truck and its two 

trailers over the side of a bridge, massive 

amounts of debris down a gorge, the driver 

is missing, and all in total darkness apart 

from a few headlights. 


“One of the truck drivers held up by the 

crash had managed to get the manifest 

out of the crashed truck and it showed the 

45 tonne load included hazardous 

chemicals. The truck signage was showing 

the radioactive goods warning. 

“We were in a communication black spot 

so a police officer drove a short distance 

up the road to make cellphone calls 

through to their Comcen who relayed the 

information on to Fire Coms.” 

Meanwhile, Turangi Brigade Chief Fire 

Officer Tong Kingi carefully assessed the 

site, and the obvious risks. “There were no 

indications of any leakage of chemicals 

around the truck and the 10–15 people on 

the bridge all seemed fine. We went 

through the manifest, which took quite a 

long time because there was a lot on 

board, and the handwriting was pretty bad. 

We spotted the load included two types of 

chemicals that were a potential danger to 

the environment and got that information 

through to the Comcen. But there was no 

sign of anything radioactive, apart from 

some smoke alarms. I was pretty certain 

the truck’s hazmat sign had flipped to the 

radioactive warning in the crash, so we got 

word out to the relevant environmental 

authorities and to our Comcen about the 

chemicals.”

The Rotorua hazmat/command unit was 

dispatched at about 5.30am and 

appliances from Rotorua sent out shortly 

after 6am. 

Tong said, in the daylight, they could see 

that the three containers of a pool cleaning 

chemical Trichlore were in the stream and 

appeared to be intact. This was a relief as it 

had the potential to kill fish and other 

wildlife. The dozen small canisters on 

board that contained a pesticide used 

in fly spray were thought to be in the 

debris somewhere but were not a 

danger to people. 

By 6.30am, Tong’s plan of action was 

pretty clear. The brigade had done all it 

could, it was up to the contractors to clear 

the debris and search teams to find the 

missing driver. The environmental 

agencies had arrived and others were on 

their way. The Police didn’t want the scene 

disturbed before they found the driver, so 

Tong handed over to Police. “Waiouru’s 

appliance and one of the Turangi pumps 

were released. I left the other Turangi 

appliance behind with Deputy Chief Fire 

Officer Michelle Sherwood and headed 

home.” Michelle (Micky) would leave once 

the crews from Rotorua arrived. 

CatChing the news 

Tong said it wasn’t until he was several 

kilometres down the road when his 

communications link came back up that he 

found that the mention of possible 

radioactive goods by Police to their 

Comcen had sparked a national surge of 

adrenaline. 

“I heard the radio notification that the 

assistant area manager and the Rotorua 

hazmat/command unit were almost at the 

scene. It was the first I knew that the rest 

of the world had gone to ‘Defcon 3’.” 

Central Lakes Assistant Area Manager 

Nigel Richards, was paged just before 

5.20am, it was not clear just what the 

hazmat situation was so the hazmat/ 

command unit was mobilised along with 

its accompanying appliances. 

“When I heard there was possibly 

radioactive goods on board, I did take a 

breath.” It took the next wave of support 

about an hour and a half to get to the 

remote spot on the Desert Road at the 

Waiohohonu Bridge. 

“Once I got there I liaised with Police and 

went through the manifest again and then 

made a plan of what was where. We 

located the 50kg containers of Trichlore in 

the stream, looked again at the possibility 

of there being any radioactive goods and, 

like Tong, realised it was just the sign on 

the truck that had flipped over in the crash 

to show the radioactive symbol.” 

Nigel said, once again, the 

communications technology on board the 

feature 

hazmat/command unit proved invaluable. 

The satellite link allowed all the different 

agencies to keep in touch with their home 

bases and pass information to and fro as 

the clean up, search and body recovery 

were underway. 

“The incident also put to good use all the 

inter-agency training and relationship 

building that we do”, said Nigel. 

Nigel Richards. Michelle Sherwood and Tong Kingi. 


cApture the kIDs 

the parents will follow 

Brigades around the country are always trying to think of new ways to bring in fresh recruits. 

Muriwhenua Volunteer Support 

Officer Brad Mosby says some 

brigades in Northland are really 

struggling to keep up the numbers of 

available firefighters, particularly for 

daytime call outs. 

So when he, the Ahipara and Kaitaia 

Brigades and Sky Tower Stair Climb 

promoter Tony Scott put their heads 

together they came up with a winner. 

Tony Scott (a firefighter at Auckland 

airport and new volunteer at Kawakawa) 

has a longtime interest in promoting 

firefighter challenges (Sky Tower and Chill 

Factor). Over the last few years, he’s been 

developing a mini firefighters combat 

challenge circuit for children, based on the 

international event promoted by the 

United Fire Brigades Association. 

Ahipara’s biggest annual event is the 

school gala. Brad and the Ahipara and 

Kaitaia Brigades thought providing the 

kids with a free, fun challenge would mean 

the parents would come along and watch. 

“That would give us an ideal opportunity to 

start talking with them about the volunteer 

brigade, what we do and what part they 


might be able to play in the brigade and 

their community,” said Brad. 

The end result, dozens of happy kids ran 

up and down lanes hauling dummies, 

clambered up scaffolding with hose, 

pounded on steel with sledgehammers 

and did all the other elements of a real 

Firefighter Combat Challenge – child-sized 

of course. 

Brad was delighted. “We have six people 

now interested in joining the Kaitaia 

Brigade and two for Ahipara, so we’re 

following up with them now.” 

For Tony Scott, it was a good endorsement 

of his mini combat challenge circuit. It’s 

already booked for another outing at 

Waitangi on 6 February (Waitangi Day) and 

the horse races at Hokianga on 2 March. 

The recruitment drive was combined with 

a fire safety promotion at the event which 

included the kitchen fire demonstrator to 

help attract the crowds, said Brad. 

Fire Risk Management Officer Gary Beer, 

who is fluent in Te Reo Ma- ori, was able to 

give all the fire safety messages in both 

English and te reo, something the locals 

really appreciated. 

Ahipara is remote and includes 

communities most at risk of experiencing 

a fire so the NZFS personnel were pleased 

that people took a keen interest in the 

‘unattended cooking kills’ and ‘don’t drink 

and fry’ messages being promoted – 

helped along by a competition for a $200 

fire safety package.

more gAs Detectors 

Rolling out 

South Island hazmat crews 

around the country are now 

being issued with the new 

photoionisation detectors 

(PIDs) and the North Island 

crews will receive theirs early 

next year. 

National Hazardous Substance Advisor 

Dick Thornton-Grimes said the PIDs 

come with two days of training as well 

as a training/technical manual. 

The PIDs have been used very 

successfully by specialist fire 

investigators to test for accelerants at 

fires. Hazmat crews will use them to test 

for a broad range of flammable and 

toxic substances. 

When this roll out is complete, there will 

be almost 380 various types of gas 

detection instruments in use around the 

country – 36 of them are the new PIDs. 

Dick is particularly proud of the manual 

that comes with the device. “The New 

Zealand Fire Service and the supplier, 

APC Techsafe, worked together on the 

manual to produce something that went 

beyond the usual technical details. As a 

result, it incorporates good advice on 

how hazmat officers and specialist fire 

investigators can actually use the 

equipment.” 

Dick said because NZFS required a tool 

that could stand up to the rigours of 

various incidents, APC has developed 

in-case charging, which means the 

equipment is constantly ready to go 

when needed but protected from the 

hazards of responding to incidents. 

NZFS has just renewed its supply 

contract with APC Techsafe and this 

includes mobile servicing, 

APC Techsafe Manager Dean Pritchard 

said, “We are committed to providing 

local solutions to the regions with a 

mobile testing facility that will reduce 

the disruption of testing by moving 

equipment around. During November 

we launched our second mobile 

testing service, this one based in 

the South Island.” 

Dick said the addition of a technican in 

the South Island means servicing and 

testing will be done at a fire station, 

rather than staff having to send the 

equipment to Auckland. 

Above: APC Techsafe senior technician Dylan 

Owen shows an Auckland firefighter through the 

testing van’s set up. 

new 

reImbursement 

polIcy 

Improvements have been made 

to the way volunteer 

firefighters are reimbursed for their 

costs while they are away on national 

training courses. 

Deputy National Commander Paul 

McGill said, “Feedback from individual 

volunteers, our volunteer 

sustainability project and the 

volunteer reference group has been 

fairly consistent. We needed to make 

our reimbursement system fairer and 

more flexible so that it better reflected 

their actual costs.” 

The new policy, which takes effect in 

January, removes the threshold for 

claims for loss of income, which was 

based on the average wage. 

“This means that self-employed 

volunteer firefighters, and those on 

higher than average incomes will be 

fully compensated for their loss of 

income, or annual leave, while away 

on national training courses,” said 

Paul. 

The changes also make it easier for 

people to claim for child care or other 

dependant care costs. 

“We are also reducing the paperwork 

needed to make claims.” 

Paul said volunteer firefighters 

provide an essential community 

service. “People join knowing they are 

committing to turning out to 

emergencies at all hours of the day 

and night, and to undergoing training 

at the station. Taking additional time 

off work and away from home to 

attend the courses and training 

needed to progress through the ranks 

is a big ask. People should not be out 

of pocket as a result, nor do we want 

loss of income to be a barrier to doing 

the courses.” 

The new Reimbursement Policy also 

covers volunteers who have been 

asked to be a representative on 

specific NZFS projects and 

committees and who are not eligible 

for casual contracts. 


feature 

fIrefIghtIng 

On Ice 

It’s the gig many of us 

dream off. 

A fully funded week-long trip to Antarctica 

to experience the unique and awesome 

white continent. For Timaru-based Training 

Officer Bob Mortimer it was the trip of 

a lifetime. 

He and Nelson Training Officer Paul 

Manson spent seven days at Scott Base in 

October. Their job was to train a 25 strong 

summer crew to identify fire hazards, 

prevent fires and, if necessary, fight them 

in the isolated environment. The Fire 

Service has been training Scott Base staff 

for the last 20 years but it was both Bob 

and Paul’s first Antarctic experience. 


They began working with the group at the 

Woolston Training Centre in Christchurch 

where they spent five days learning to 

identify and limit the likely fire risks 

and underwent specially adapted 

firefighter training. 

“There are 34 full-time firefighters 

stationed over the summer at the 

American base at McMurdo but that’s 

three kilometres away from Scott Base, 

so on-site firefighting training is essential,” 

Bob said. 

They split the group into three fire crews, 

made the base electrician the Chief Fire 

Officer and appointed three others as duty 

Chief Fire Officers. 

Flying out 

Trainers and trainees flew to Antarctica on 

10 October on an Australian Airforce 

Boeing A320 airbus. It was a five-hour trip, 

much of which was spent glued to a 

window. The closer they got to Antarctica 

the more magnificent the views. 

“It was out of this world. We saw our 

first lot of sea ice two hours before we 

landed and from then on everything on 

this vast, icy and quite mountainous 

terrain was white.” 

They arrived at a sea ice runway about 

three kilometres from Scott Base, home 

to 70 people over summer. Togged out in 

their life-saving extreme weather gear, 

they stepped into a completely barren 

environment free of wildlife. The 

temperature was minus 17 degrees. 

By contrast, the base was warm 

and welcoming.

Bob and Paul spent the first two days 

getting their own health and safety 

briefings on the do’s and don’ts of living on 

the ice and familiarising themselves with 

its fire systems. 

“We checked out their heat and smoke 

detectors and sprinkler systems, their 

three breathing apparatus stations and 

seven hydrant stations, all of which are fed 

with fresh water which has been converted 

from salt water and held in heated tanks.” 

The Scott Base Operations Manager 

walked the trainers and the three fire 

crews through the base, pointing out 

hazards and areas for particular attention. 

Bob said the facilities were impressive and, 

from a fire prevention point of view were 

well designed and managed. 

Risk management 

“Everyone is so conscious of fire down 

there because it’s so dry. If, for example, 

they lost their buildings to a fire they’d be 

left exposed to the weather and freezing 

temperatures.” 

Bob and Paul devised two training 

scenarios for the three fire crews, each of 

which involved search and rescue, using 

beathing apparatus, hose running, 

hazardous substance identification and 

handling and working in confined spaces. 

The crews are made up of an OIC, two BA 

wearers, a hose runner, hydrant operator 

and two auxiliaries responsible for 

checking the alarm panel and trying to 

control the fire with an extinguisher until 

the rest of the crew arrive. 

The scenarios tested their firefighters’ 

skills inside buildings and outside where 

the temperature and potentially wild 

weather are massive risk factors. 

“The ‘inside’ situations are handled in 

much the same way as in New Zealand but 

as soon as you go outside it’s a different 

ballgame. For a start it takes a couple of 

minutes to put on your outside survival 

gear and you need special techniques to 

deal with water that can freeze in the 

outside air.” 

One ‘outside’ scenario involved dousing a 

fire at ‘the hitching rail’ where vehicles are 

plugged in to keep the motors from 

freezing. 

On their day off they donned safety 

harnesses and climbed nearby Castle Rock 

and visited Captain Scott’s second hut, 

erected in 1911 and now carefully 

preserved by Scott Base staff. 

Above top: Checking a vehicle after a ‘fire’. 

Above: Left Bob Mortimer and Paul Manson 

at Scott’s Hut. 

Opposite page: The replacement appliance 

for the McMurdo base. 

feature 

“It gave us an idea of how tough those 

pioneers must have been, working outside 

in temperatures of minus 40 degrees 

which would give you frostbite in a minute 

if you weren’t properly dressed.” 

Bob said, “It was a privilege to be able to 

spend time in this extraordinary place, not 

as a tourist, but as a working member of 

the community down there.” 


on cAll bAck 

There’s something about New 

Plymouth that calls back its Chief 

Fire Officers, long after they’ve retired. 

Current Area Manager Pat Fitzell recently 

found out that five former 

CFOs had retired to the town after long 

and distinguished careers throughout the 

country. At one point, all five had spent 

time as CFO of the New Plymouth 

the gooD olD DAys 

For 22 retired career firefighters a 

visit to the Wellington Central Fire 

Station on a Sunday afternoon in 

November was a trip down memory lane. 

The ’Old Timers’ as the group has been 

affectionately nicknamed, most aged in 

their 70s and 80s, were given a tour of the 

75-year-old station where some had lived 

as well as worked during their careers. 

Area Manager Peter Dempsey says that, 

although there have been a few reunions 

“a few drinks at local RSA or bowling club,” 

this was the first time the Central 


Brigade, two now have sons at the station. 

“I thought it was quite unusual to have 

so many ex-Chief Fire Officers living in 

the area and thought it would be nice to 

get them all together and show them 

what we were doing here now,” Pat said. 

“We had a great afternoon. They had a 

look over the hazmat/command unit, 

Wellington crew have hosted a reunion 

at the station. 

Three vans driven by Wellington Area offduty 

staff brought the bulk of the ‘old 

timers’ in from the Kapiti Coast and the 

afternoon was spent looking over the 

station and visiting the Fire Brigade 

Archives building before enjoying a few 

drinks with some old mates. 

They showed a lot of interest in the 

hazmat/command unit and other 

specialist vehicles and half a dozen 

of the more adventurous ones had 

they went through the decontamination 

corridor and even sat through a lecture 

on fire safety and smoke alarms for 

the elderly.” 

Checking out the command unit from left: Ivor 

Wesley, Ron Smith, Michael Burke, Brian Venables, 

Allen Pidwell and current Area Manager Pat Fitzell. 

a ride in the Type 5 Bronto, Peter said. 

The archives were a great hit and 

generated a lot of yarns. 

“They spent a lot of time looking at the 

memorabilia. Many of them found 

photographs of themselves with old 

colleagues and documents they had written 

or in which they were mentioned,” he said. 

Some of the visitors had lived at the station 

when there was accommodation for both 

single and married men, a practice that 

came to an end in the early 1970s. 

From left: Gordon Duncan, Tony Bruce, Jimmy Kerr, Merv Pethibridge, Sid Crawford, Frank Little, Trevor Bean, George Roberts, Andy Bell, Bernie Setter, Ron Williams, 

Errol Bruce, Dennis Patterson, Dave Thompson, Bob Brougham.

type 1 

next generation? 

Smaller, lighter and more 

agile – that is what brigades 

said they wanted from the next 

generation of Type 1 appliances. 

National Headquarters Vehicle 

Development Engineer Bruce 

Crosbie took on the project “To see 

what we could get onto a chassis that is 

one size down from the current Type 1.” 

Members of some brigades have said they 

need a smaller appliance that can navigate 

narrow rural roads and get through farm 

gates and up driveways but still get the 

job done. 

Bruce said the prototype that has been 

built went on display at the UFBA (United 

Fire Brigades Association) Conference at 

the end of November and got some very 

positive feedback. 

“We’ve chosen an Isuzu chassis after 

looking at a wide range in the eight to nine 

tonne range. We then chose the Trentham 

division of Lockheed Martin to put 

together the body and the pump.” 

Bruce said the prototype has everything 

the larger Type 1 on the Iveco chassis has, 

although the cab is a little smaller. “Despite 

having a smaller cab the width is the same 

across the shoulders as the Iveco, but 

there’s slightly less leg room so it may be a 

bit of a tighter fit if there are four people in 

the back of the cab.” 

He said the design team had pushed the 

boundaries to meet the specifications. 

The engine has slightly less power, at 

190hp versus the 250hp of the Iveco, but 

this doesn’t affect the pump performance. 

The pump is driven through a split shaft 

PTO (power take off). 

The cab comes with excellent safety 

features including side intrusion bars and 

it’s the first pumping appliance to have an 

airbag on the driver’s side. 

The prototype will go through extensive 

trials before a decision is made on whether 

to go into production. 

“We will take it out to brigades and we really 

want to put it through its paces. We’ll be 

looking for busy brigades who can see how 

it stands up to the challenge,” said Bruce. 

The evaluations will take place over the 

next four months. 


IngIng bAck 

Bernie 

Bernie’s back on the billboards. 

Actually the cartoon character that has 

been gracing rural fire prevention ad 

campaigns for 20 years has never really 

gone away. 

Bernie hibernates over the winter but as 

temperatures soar and hot summer winds 

blow across forest and farmland he 

reappears alongside the familiar ‘half 

grapefruit’ sign with its arrow pointing to 

local ‘Fire Danger’ conditions. 

As the face of the 2012/13 National Rural 

Fire Authority (NRFA) rural fire prevention 

Murray Dudfield. 


campaign Bernie will appear throughout 

the country from January through to 

March on 14 billboards, in radio ads, on 

national television and on high profile 

internet sites like TradeMe, YouTube 

and Stuff. 

This year the campaign’s strap line is 

“Don’t light a fire you cannot stop”, a 

message first used on last year’s 

billboards. It will be extended this year to 

all advertising. It is a subtle but important 

change to the message NRFA has used 

over the last 15 years, “Call 111 to report 

a wildfire”. 

As NRFA’s 2012/13 rural fire 

prevention campaign kicks off it’s 

important that firefighters remain alert to 

the mercurial nature of vegetation fires 

and remember that their own safety must 

never be compromised. 

“Last summer we had two fatalities due to 

rural fires. The tragic loss of pilot John 

‘Prickles’ de Rider and DOC Ranger William 

Macrae in a helicopter crash at the Karikari 

wildfire in Northland last November was 

preventable as were a handful of other 

National Rural Fire Officer Murray Dudfield 

says the phrase is a ‘call to action’ which 

encourages people to think and act 

preventatively. 

“Research shows that we need to look at 

changing people’s behaviour. The new 

message aims to do this by focusing on 

the consequences of lighting fires at times 

when the risk is high,” he says. 

Bernie is recognised by 80 percent of 

people the ads are aimed at – males aged 

13-29. This is an astonishingly high figure 

according to advertising commentators. 

More importantly, from a fire prevention 

point of view, 86 percent knew the ‘half 

grapefruit’ fire danger symbol. Of those, 

nine out of 10 said they would take notice 

of it to some degree, 63 percent would 

respond to the fire danger level indicator 

on the signs and 93 percent said they 

thought it was a ‘good’ or ‘great’ idea to 

remind people about summer fire risk. 

Murray says the ‘half grapefruit’ is 

particularly popular because it’s scaled. 

“It’s not simply ‘extreme’ or ‘low’. It gives 

people a meaningful measure of what the 

fire danger really is in their area.” 

The 2012/13 campaign is funded by NRFA 

with contributions from the Forestry 

Owners Association and the Department 

of Conservation. 

The budget is small for a national campaign 

but the impact is disproportionately large. 

“Analysis of last year’s campaign shows we 

gained over $350,000 of free public 

exposure because, as it’s a public service 

type message rather than a product, radio, 

television and internet sites are happy to 

use it as filler in spaces for which they have 

been unable to sell advertising.” 

‘near misses’. So I’d just like to send out a 

friendly reminder to all firefighters that 

situational awareness when battling 

vegetation fires must be a high priority,” 

says National Rural Fire Officer 

Murray Dudfield. 

“As of you know, what seems like a quiet 

fire can change very quickly so always 

make sure you have identified a means 

of escape.” 

And have a great summer.

mAkIng A 

royal impression 

It’s not often you get a chance to impress the Prince of Wales – but a Fire Service 

demonstration got the royal seal of approval recently. 

Prince Charles is an international 

ambassador promoting the use of 

wool and during his recent visit to 

New Zealand he spent a few hours 

browsing through the Shear Brilliance 

Wool Campaign exhibition in Auckland. 

Part of the visit included a 

demonstration of the fire-retardant 

properties of wool – by NZFS National 

Manager Fire Investigation and Arson 

Reduction, Peter Wilding. 

The demonstration showed just how 

quickly fire can burn through large areas 

of cotton and acryclic but how hard it is 

to get fire to do more than char wool. 

Prince Charles said it was “a remarkable 

demonstration” and the best he had 

ever seen that showed how hard it is to 

set wool products alight. 

The Fire Service was invited to do a 

demonstration by the organisers of 

the event, Campaign for Wool NZ. 

The invitation ended up on Peter 

Wilding’s desk and he took on the 

challenge with relish. 

“Not everyone knows just how hard it is 

to burn wool. And they don’t realise how 

quickly cotton and acrylic catch fire.” 

Peter saw it as a good opportunity to get 

the word out. 

He pulled in Parnell’s Brown Watch to 

give him a hand on the day and 

constructed the huge billboard-like 

panels with help from Henderson 

firefighter/builder Darren Sinclair. The 

print design was done by the National 

Headquarters Communications Unit 

designer Craig Pearce and the printing 

in Auckland. 

“We had to build two sets – one for a 

public demonstration for the VIPs and 

another for the Prince when he was on 

his walkabout.” 

Peter said Prince Charles was extremely 

interested and asked quite a few 

questions. “He also saw the children I 

had standing nearby wrapped in 

blankets. I was using them to talk about 

how much safer woollen blankets were 

for sleeping in and being outside near 

fires and fireworks. He asked me if the 

children were the next demonstration 

and jokingly asked if I was going to set 

them alight.” 

Peter had never done this type of 

demonstration using different materials. 

“I knew wool was resistant (they used to 

make firefighters’ bunker coats out of 

wool) but there was a wow factor to this 

test. It was a very visually graphic 

demonstration”. 

Peter Wilding demonstrates the fire-stopping 

power of wool. 


the cAse of 

the exploding fridge 

A fridge that blew up and 

almost destroyed a Tauranga 

town house in September left 

firefighters from the Greerton 

station scratching their heads. 

The blast was so strong it blew doors off 

their hinges, smashed 10 windows, lifted 

the roof and shoved walls out of alignment. 

Fire was not a factor in the blast so the 

Greerton crew called in the Police. The 

following day Police asked Fire Risk 

Management Officer Ken McKeagg to 

inspect the site for a second opinion. 

But, despite more than 30 years in the 

Fire Service, half of which he’d spent doing 

investigations, he also drew a blank. 

“Initially the residents, who had been 

asleep at the time of the blast, said that 

the fridge had contained only a bag of 

vegetables but in all my time I have never 

come across exploding carrots. So, the 

first thing we checked was the type of 

refrigerant used in the fridge. As it was 

very old there was a possibility that it had 

been ‘topped up’ or the original inert gas 

had been replaced with a flammable type 

of gas, but that proved not to be the case,” 

he said. 


The fridge was also checked by an 

explosive expert from Energy Safety who 

confirmed the obvious – the explosion had 

happened within the fridge. 

Ken said someone was telling porkpies. 

Following lengthy questioning by the 

Police, the residents changed their story 

and admitted that they had been mixing 

butane with their alcohol and had removed 

all evidence of this before the Police and 

Fire Service arrived. 

“I’ve never heard of an LPG-type 

substance being mixed with alcohol before, 

but then there’s a lot of stupid things going 

on out there.” 

Ken says that the volatile liquid had either 

vaporised off from the alcohol over a 

period of hours or a leaking canister of 

butane had been left in the fridge. The 

butane vapour would eventually have fallen 

within its explosive limit, and been ignited 

when the thermostat kicked in and started 

the motor. 

“During the day with the fridge door being 

opened and closed, the gas has not had 

time to get within its explosive range which 

explains why this occurred at night.” 

He said the situation was rare but not 

unknown. 

“This is only the third case like this I have 

come across in my career. 

“In the first one the lid of a sample bottle in 

a laboratory had been left slightly ajar. 

Volatile vapour escaped and when the 

fridge engine clicked on it blew the hell out 

of the fridge and the lab. The second fridge 

exploded in a house fire. 

“But this latest one, you can’t blame it on 

exploding carrots.” Ken said. 

Ken McKeagg.

A couple of minutes with 

Allan_ 

Kerrisk 

Q: 

a: Kerikeri 

Q: 

a: 

Q: 

a: 

Where are you stationed? 

What’s your title? 

Area Manager Muri Whenua 

What’s been your progression 

within the NZFS? 

Volunteer for nine years, career 

firefighter in Hamilton for 13 years. Left 

in 1999 to further my business management 

studies at Waikato University and rejoined in 

2000 as SSO Whangarei, Was appointed 

CFO Whangarei and Assistant Fire Region 

Manager Operations Northland and am now 

Area Manager Muri Whenua. 

Q: Family? 

a: 

Four grown-up kids, the last one is 

still at university. Two grandkids so 

far (I’ve put an order in for 16). 

Q: 

What’s the one thing 

that sticks in your mind 

about the job? 

Being the first responding pump to 

the Empire Hotel fire in Hamilton. 

a: 

Q: 

If you could make one 

change to the Fire Service what 

would it be? 

Anything that makes the volunteers’ 

job easier. 

a: 

Q: 

a: 

Your most embarrassing moment 

on the job? 

Having my crew at a fire try to open 

the bonnet of a BMW from the front 

– result, car written off. 

Q: 

What’s one thing people 

would be surprised to learn 

about you? 

I am currently helping restore 

a twin screw steamship. 

a: 

Jon the fIrefIghter 

Firefighters are always ready to 

lend a helping hand. In Hamilton, a 

couple of them have also done their bit 

to help adults to read. 

It all started when Waikato Business 

Support Administrator Diane Murray was 

attending a presentation about the work 

of the Waikato branch of Literacy 

Aotearoa. 

Some members of the branch are trying 

to grab new readers’ attention by writing 

booklets about interesting jobs. Diane 

suggested that a firefighter would be a 

good subject and put them in touch with 

Assistant Area Manager Darryl Papesch. 

He and Rei Hagan from Literacy Waikato 

then embarked on a project that led to the 

publication of Jon the Firefighter. 

Favourite book? 

The River God 

Favourite movie? 

Forest Gump 

Favourite TV show? 

Grand Designs 

Favourite music group? 

Queen 

Favourite sport 

Marlin fishing 

Favourite holiday destination? 

I’m a gypsy and rarely holiday at the 

same place twice. 

If I wasn’t in the Fire Service I’d be? 

A charter boat operator. 

Rei said, “We write some of our own 

booklets because it’s quite hard to get 

adults interested in the types of stories 

that are written for children who are 

learning to read. Jon the Firefighter is 

one in a series we have done that 

includes a sausage maker, a baker and 

a racing car driver. The booklets are 

provided throughout New Zealand to 

adult literacy groups.” 

Darryl said firefighter Todd Donaldson 

‘happily’ posed for the photos in the book. 

“Around 40 percent of people in New 

Zealand struggle with reading so we were 

happy to help with this good cause.” 

At the book launch, from left: Wayne Johnson, 

Steve Culhane, Todd Donaldson, Darryl Papesch, 

Darren Bowler. 


Winning shot 

Over 100 NZFS personnel and their partners 

took part in the 49th National Fire Service 

Golf Tournament 8-12 October, hosted by 

the Stratford Volunteer Fire Brigade. 

chrIstchurch 

recognItIon 

Awards for career 

personnel 

Dates and venues for recognition award 

presentations for career personnel who 

responded to the 22 February 2011 

Christchurch Earthquake are: 

4 December 

Auckland Fire Service Golf Club 

JAFFA Open 

Waitakere Golf Club 

Entries close 16 November 

Contact: hayden.robinson@fire.org.nz 

or 021 893 861 

lyndon.bodger@fire.org.nz 

Best oveRAll sections 

Gross: Tony Versteeg Napier, Pahiatua Shield 

Nett: Mike Dawson, Ex Auckland, Protectus Cup 

Region 5 personnel: 

Monday 11 February 2013 at the Dunedin 

Public Art Gallery, Dunedin 

Region 1, 2 and UsAR tF3 

personnel: 

Wednesday 13 February 2013 at The Viaduct 

Events Centre, Auckland 

Region 3, nhQ and UsAR tF1 

personnel: 

Wednesday 20 February 2013 at Te Papa, 

Wellington 

For the latest information on Fire service sports events go to: 

Firenet/sports/upcomingsportsevents 

13-14 March 2013 

NZFS Lawn Bowls Club National 

Tournament 

Paraparaumu Beach 

Entries close 28 January 2013 

Contact: Ron Smith 06 757 2488 

or rhsmith@xtra.co.nz 

Stableford: Marty Jillings, Wellington, 

Gisborne Cup 

Region 4 and UsAR tF2 

personnel: 

Friday 22 February 2013 at CBS Arena, 

Christchurch 

Official invitations will be sent out shortly to 

all eligible personnel, together with further 

details on their event locations and timings. 

Please contact Angela Fisher on angela. 

fisher@fire.org.nz if you require further 

information. 

18-21 March 2013 

NZFS Surf Championships 

Omanu (to be confirmed) 

Registration 18 March, competition 

starts 19 March (swells dependent) 

Contact: Tim Pearce 

tim.pearce@fire.org.nz 

nzfireservicesurfing@gmail.com 

or 021 599 438

Issue 86 - New Zealand Fire Service

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