Download PDF: Issue 63 - New Zealand Fire Service

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Christchurch response Christchurch Area Manager Dan Coward says the on-duty crew at City Station were thoroughly professional and as soon as the ’quake hit they did a quick check of the station before getting their gear out and responding to calls. “It was most impressive. It takes a lot of courage to put what might be happening to your family at home to one side and just concentrate on the job at hand.” Dan said off-duty staff checked their families were OK and then started heading into their stations. “It was amazing. I’m really proud of how everyone performed. Everyone pitched in and worked well as a team, they gelled with the out of town staff who came in to help and just kept on doing everything that was asked of them.” Looking back on the first few days after the earthquake, Lyttelton Chief Fire Officer Mark Buckley says it all seemed quite surreal. “It seemed strangely familiar even though we’d never been through anything like this before. Somehow though, over the years, we had kind of prepared for it and knew what we would do. 8 Issue No. 63 Dan Coward with the City Station yard full of additional appliances. Lyttelton – strangely surreal USAR personnel secure the historic Lyttelton Timeball. All the information and training came together, it was very strange,” he said. He was less prepared for people’s reactions when they arrived to help. “We would turn up and some people were very calm, others just broke down in front of us.” When the ’quake hit, Mark and three or four other firefighters packed up their families and took them with them straight to the fire station. Others arrived soon after. “It was really ironic though. We had no power and the manual system for opening the doors broke. So we had to manoeuvre our Iveco around to try and back it out of the single door of the double appliance bay.” Mark says the calls didn’t really start until daybreak and then they flooded in. They too had to deal with hundreds of broken chimneys. “We developed a ‘specialist chimney dismantling kit’. It included sheets of plywood, rope, sponge and a few mattresses to throw down on the roof or ground to stop the bricks from doing any damage when we pulled it down.”
Going, going, gone It is not known exactly how many chimneys were toppled by firefighters and USAR technicians in the Canterbury region but it’s believed to be many thousands. Crews from any appliance that turned out to knock down a chimney at one home often ended up dealing to several others at neighbouring homes. “There were just so many that were close to falling down and coming through people’s roofs, we had to do what we could to help while we were there,” said one firefighter. A Rangiora crew, providing back up to the Kaiapoi brigade, pull down a dangerous chimney. Left: Craig McCabe, Paul Brougham and on the roof Neil Henning. Earthquake News Sumner maxes callouts Sumner brigade swung into action with its light pump (a 4WD Jeep) and its appliance clocking up over 100 tasks in the first two days – many of them resulting from calls made direct to the station. Not bad for a brigade that normally deals with less than 100 incidents a year. Chief Fire Officer Alan Kerr said: “We started by doing an assessment of each job and just worked on those buildings that were a serious safety issue. We secured those that we could and taped off the ones we couldn’t secure. Then once we thought the area was safe we started getting into the work of knocking down chimneys.” Once things settled down, the brigade started working a day shift, swapping around crews and extra labour. “Some guys had to be ordered off for a break. I can’t speak highly enough of what they did – I’m really proud of them,” said Alan. The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine October 2010 Addington Station SFF Tony Price and Wi Jones prepare to topple a chimney. 9
Page 1 and 2: Earth October 2010 The New Zealand
Page 3 and 4: Earthquake News 7!1 Earthquake 4.36
Page 5 and 6: Vital input to maps and data The Da
Page 7: 4.30am at Kaiapoi When the earthqua
Page 11 and 12: Brooklands brigade standing strong
Page 13 and 14: In the central city area the USAR t
Page 15 and 16: The New Zealand Fire Service Magazi
Page 17 and 18: Blenheim residents recently got a c
Page 19 and 20: Brigades help volunteer project Wai
Page 21 and 22: Calendars now on sale Profits from
Page 23 and 24: 2010 Events Events Calendar Calenda

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