Wellington Volunteer Fire Support

We've had troops-on-the-ground at the Wellington Home and Garden show, being held at Sky Stadium this weekend.
We're there until it closes tomorrow - stop by and get some fire safety pointers!

https://www.facebook.com/share/sNJ6rCaRsuJPFRmt/

For training this week we went off-site to give our new recruits experience around how a job for our Unit works end-to-end and to provide leadership development opportunities for our future crew leaders.

The crews were called to a Wellington office location where notional cleanup was required following a sprinkler activation on the floor above, a not uncommon request for our Unit. As the “lifts were out”, crews were required to carry a range of equipment to the 9th floor to conduct salvage and support cleanup activities getting hearts pumping.

Big thanks to Communication Centres - Fire and Emergency NZ for enabling us to conduct the activity like a live job and Hato Hone St John for allowing us to train in their Wellington office.

Last Monday night we held our 125th Annual General Meeting.
At the AGM, the OIC's Annual Report is presented (You can check this out here https://firesupport.org.nz/agm-and-annual-report-2024/) ... SSO Foster spoke to his report, noting that the brigade was turned out to 82 events in the period up to 31 March 2024 (a slight increase on the previous year) and had worked very hard to keep training interesting and varied, and also to recruit to fill vacancies in the unit (with 8 new members having just joined!). He also thanked an array of personalities both within and outside the brigade who help ensure we can keep doing what we do - not only our members, but also whanau and friends who support and enable us, and key FENZ personnel from across the district including the District Leadership Team, the Training team based at Kilbirnie, and the Volunteer Support Officer who ensures we've got the uniform, PPE and supplies we need to get the job done.

A key job at the AGM is the appointment of the brigade's (non-operational) office-holders; congratulations to our incoming management committee:

Treasurer: QFF Milan Lukic
Secretary: RFF Alina Croad
Firefighter Members Representative: QFF Zane Hunt
Safety Health and Wellbeing Lead: RFF Caleb Harris
Committee Members: SO's Simon Luke and Cullum Peni-Wesche

They will join the OIC, Deputy and Officer Appointee (SO Alex Cousins) in managing the business-side of keeping a volunteer fire brigade ticking.

After the election, A/GM Bret Burrows addressed the unit, thanking the members for their hard work and commitment to the brigade and to the community. And after a quick brigade photo, supper was served (a huge thanks to our friends at New World Miramar for their donation of our supper supplies for the evening!)

Call # 41: 📟 late this afternoon, with the FENZ response to an aircraft incident at Wellington Airport - FENZ were stood down quite quickly after the plane landed safely and passengers were able to disembark.

Crews respond to airplane engine fire at Wellington Airport An airplane has landed at Wellington Airport trailing smoke and fire after an engine fire, but all 40 passengers were safely evacuated.

A couple of quick snaps from a recent training night - salvage and lighting drills! It's important that our new recruits have a base level of familiarity with our core responsibilities before they can deploy to incidents with us, even as we acknowledge that on-the-job training is one of the best ways to learn. 😎

Call #40: 📟 just after 6pm last evening. Second Alarm transmitted for a fire at a Grenada Village address. Duties included road closures to keep the scene safe, scene lighting, and support to the Breathing Apparatus tender. We also provided crew transportation as the scene was winding down. Dinner was a bit late for our response team, who were back on station shortly after 9pm.

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Timely to update our recent calls.. !

Call #37: 📟Evening of Friday 26 July; 2nd Alarm transmitted at a Mt Victoria address. Traffic Management, Victim Support and post-fire salvage tasks with lighting equipment deployed.
Call #38: 📟Afternoon of Saturday 27 July; Salvage support requested at an address in Strathmore Park. Responded and carried out salvage tasks.
Call #39: 📟 Late last evening. Second Alarm transmitted for a fire at the Whittakers Chocolate Factory in Porirua. We responded and provided support on the ground looking after evacuated persons, road closure support and provided refreshments for fire crews. The New Zealand Herald has more:

Whittaker’s 'assessing damage' after choc factory fire, person suffers smoke inhalation The fire was confined to one piece of equipment.

At training last week we were very pleased to see Duncan Tabor promoted to Senior Firefighter!

Senior Firefighters in our brigade have shown themselves as having high levels of operational competence, leadership skills and commitment to helping the brigade succeed at everything it does, both on the front lines and behind the scenes.

In just five years of service, Duncan has made an extraordinary contribution to his brigade and to FENZ at large; The UFBA having recently selected him as an Intern to their Board is just more evidence of his ongoing commitment to his personal and professional development, and to the service as a whole.

Congratulations Duncan!

Picture shows SFF Duncan Tabor being presented with his SFF helmet by SSOIC Mark Foster in the Kilbirnie station engine bay.

It's not every day we get to appoint three new Station Officers!
But that was this week.

Officer in Charge SSO Mark Foster was very pleased to present the rank markings for Station Officer to members Simon Luke, Cullum Peni-Wesche and Alex Cousins at our training on Monday.

"Being appointed to the rank of Station Officer means there's a high degree of trust and accountability invested." says Mark. "These members have shown a commitment to our brigade over several years and have demonstrated both operational competencies and leadership skills, both at the incidents they've attended and within the wider brigade environment, through community events and of course, our regular training programme."

As an Operational Support unit our brigade dynamic is a bit different to a typical volunteer fire brigade.

"Each one of our call responses is a little bit fluid, every job is different and in an OSU the most important element is being adaptable, whilst also remaining consistent with our training and Standard Operating Procedures." Mark adds. "Our Officers take responsibility for this each time we turn out, with the ultimate goal of providing direct support to our FENZ colleagues, meeting whatever operational requirements they have at the call - whilst keeping everyone safe."

These promotions fit well into our forward-looking agenda.

"With a fully populated Operational Leadership team, we can now look to the next phase of our brigade's ongoing development; after our successful Observer programme earlier in 2024 we're now in the process of inducting 8 new Recruit Firefighters. This will bring us close to fully established and we'll now be looking to gear up our training programme to impart the skills and knowledge these new members will need to thrive in their role as Operational Support Firefighters."

Mark adds "These new Officers have already shown their value and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they settle into their new responsibilities."

It's been far too long since we did a Firecall update here!

So here's a catch-up with everything since the end* of April...

Call #29: 📟Around end of business on Tuesday 7 May: Aquavac's requested at a Mount Cook address; Unable to respond due to no crew available.
Call #30: 📟Late morning on Tuesday 14 May: Aquavac requested at a Newtown address; Unable to respond due to no crew available.
Call #31: 📟Mid afternoon on Thursday 30 May: 2nd Alarm HAZMAT event at the Port of Wellington. No duties for us - stood down whilst still en-route.
Call #32: 📟 very late evening, Monday 3 June: 2nd Alarm Transmitted for a Mount Cook address, this was stood down a few minutes later, before we could respond. No duties.
Call #33: 📟 Lunchtime on Friday 7 June: Salvage required at a Mount Cook address. Aquavac and lighting equipment deployed.
Call #34: 📟 First-thing in the morning, Tuesday 9 July: 2nd Alarm transmitted for a property fire in Miramar. Stood down on arrival, no duties.
Call #35: 📟 The evening of Friday 12 July: Local Standby response to Wellington Airport for an aircraft emergency. We stood by on-scene before being released. More information: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522017/emergency-services-stood-down-after-suspected-gas-leak-on-plane-at-wellington-airport
Call #36: 📟 Tonight just after 6pm. 2nd Alarm transmitted at a CBD address - we deployed to carry out traffic management and support an extensive salvage operation to manage water affecting multiple floors of an apartment complex. More information: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522314/firefighters-respond-to-blaze-at-accommodation-block-in-wellington-cbd - crews came free from the scene just after 9.30pm.

As volunteers, it can be tough to provide a response capability 24/7 - we do our best but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Again a big thank you to our families and employers who enable us to respond to calls at all hours.

* corrected from the original post; Had said beginning April! Oops. 🫢

Firefighters respond to blaze at accommodation block in Wellington CBD The Fire Service says the cause of a blaze that broke out in an apartment building is being investigated.

We're very pleased to be finalists in the Wellington City Regional Community Awards.

Every year, Wellington Airport and the five local councils come together to recognise the work carried out by community groups in the wider Wellington region. The focus of the awards is to celebrate volunteers for their valuable contribution to society.

Factors considered during the judging include volunteer input; utilisation of resources; innovation and creativity; effectiveness of activities; impact within the community; recent activities (undertaken during the past 1-2 years).

The winner will be announced on July 31st. All the finalists are amazing community groups who're making a difference for Wellington. We're just pleased to be in the mix! ❤️

We were very pleased to be able to recognise Dylan Wahapa at last week's training... our newest promotee! Having successfully completed his Operational Support Recruit's Training Course in Rotorua the previous weekend, he's now entitled to wear the rank of Firefighter. Good job Dylan!

"Volunteering for WOSU is a privilege - we help our community in times of need, and we get to meet so many amazing people as we do so. I'd highly encourage anyone who is looking for more ways to give back to the community to consider volunteering, as it provides opportunities to grow, expands your knowledge, and connects you with likeminded people. National Volunteer Week 2024 is an fantastic opportunity to recognise some of the effort that takes place in our communities - Ngā Mihi to our volunteers."

Fine words from QFF Duncan Tabor, who not only leads our Station Training portfolio but also volunteers as an event medic with Wellington Free Ambulance, and frequently picks up extra tasks that 'just need doing' or otherwise add value to our brigade.

Thank you for volunteering with us, Duncan!

“I joined FENZ because I wanted to be in a position were I am able to give back to the community. I wanted a sense of purpose from volunteering - though I’ve also found it is great way to meet new people, and make life long connections” - QFF Zane Hunt.

Zane transferred to us from Taranaki in late 2022 and has spent the last 18 months establishing himself as a valued member of our team - picking up the role of brigade secretary and joining the Station Training team to help ensure we're all keeping up with our core skills.

Thank you for volunteering with us, Zane!

"Having immigrated from South Africa, volunteering offers me an opportunity to not only to give back to the community but become part of it." - QFF Milan Lukic.

We were pleased to welcome Milo as a transfer from the Coromandel late last year, and he's already brought a wealth of experience and pragmatism to the team.

Thank you for volunteering with us, Milan!

"Watch your pressure" says SO Phil Harris - talking to a newer member, mentoring others as he is often seen doing. When asked, he said he volunteers to "To help people and our community who are in need of help during times of crisis".

Phil's wide experience across operational firefighting, airport fire services and air ambulance operations as well as with our brigade, are highly valued by the team.

Thank you for volunteering with us, Phil!

Dylan Wahapa joined our brigade late last year and despite still being in high school, is rapidly becoming most of our most reliable incident responders.

"I love volunteering because it enables me to help my community, and provides unique opportunities that I didn’t think was possible due to my age."

Thank you for volunteering with us, Dylan!

“Volunteering with FENZ is a great way to help your community in a direct and hands on fashion. I'd encourage anyone who has thought about getting involved to leap in, there are opportunities for everyone to get involved!”

These wise words come from QFF Todd Skilton, who's been a volunteer with WOSU for five years this year. He's also well qualified to make such an opinion, having been recognised by NZDF as Volunteer of the Year in November 2023.

Thank you for volunteering with us, Todd!

Given it's National Volunteer Week, it's timely to do a few updated member profiles - we havn't done this since 2020!

So keep an eye on our new album - we'll be updating it throughout the week (and beyond, is the plan at least!)

We're really grateful for our volunteers and this is just a small way we can recognise and thank them for their service with us.

It's been a few years since we last profiled members of our brigade; National Volunteer Week seems like a good opportunity to catch up with a few of our crew!

Firstup - FF Sarah Grant, who joined Wellington OSU in late 2022.

She says 'Since joining the team I have learnt so much about what it takes to keep people safe in an emergency incident. I have also brought home my knowledge in first response to teach my seven year old daughter. It's been a learning journey for me and the team have had my back. My favourite tasks are connecting with the public and providing education."

Thank you for volunteering with us, Sarah!

Wow! We're finalists in the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards. Exciting! And in plenty of esteemed company.

💛 Congratulations to the 2024 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards finalists for Wellington City! 💛
Read more: https://bit.ly/communityawards2024

On Saturday OS personnel from greater Wellington took part in FENZ-provided training on Traffic Management. It's fantastic to see FENZ making nationally consistent traffic control training available.

Two sessions were run, one in Kilbirnie and another in Upper Hutt, and OS personnel from Kapiti, Wellington, Hutt Valley and the Wairarapa attended.

Go team Wellington Operational Support!

Operational Skills refresh!

Members of our team trained with the crew from Newlands Volunteer Fire Brigade last week, with some of our core skills based on equipment we aren't routinely equipped with, we regularly meet up with local volunteer brigades (with whom we also work on-the-job!) and practice some tasks that we do perhaps less frequently, but could still be required to carry out at a moments notice.

Here's some photos taken at Newlands College, where we got to drill with the hosereel, ground monitor and ladder carried on Newlands 291, instructed by some of their experienced officers and firefighters.

Members of our team pitching in at todays National Firefighters Challenge. Having fun!

United Fire Brigades' Association of NZ