New station, new year for brigade

The recent holidays marked a first for Mangawhai Volunteer Fire Brigade (MVFB), the first season they could operate out of their brand new, state-of-the-art station, and MVFB chief fire officer Rob Leslie says working from the station ‘is great’.

“Allows us to be a lot more social, we had a BBQ at the station on New Year's Eve with the stand-by crew and our families, so it was good not to have any callouts that night,” he says. “It’s also been a lot easier to clean our gear and is less crowded compared to the traffic and parking at the old Head’s station.”

The brigade attended 14 callouts mainly within Mangawhai in the 20 days between December 24 to January 12, consisting of five vegetation fires, four medical assists, three motor vehicle accidents, one structure fire and one private fire alarm which required no action by the brigade.

Leslie also wants to remind the community of the total fire ban which continues across Northland and to be vigilant of fire behaviour.

“A recent call-out was due to a ride on mower catching fire after being caught up in long grass,” he says. “Due to the continuing dry, hot weather, the public need to be very careful, and especially do not light outdoor fires – flames can, and will, move fast, and water supplies may be limited.”

- REPORTING/JULIA WADE