Meet your firefighters

Meet our newest fully qualified firefighter, Justin Hudepohl. Having successfully completed the week long basic training course in Rotorua, Justin is certified to put on breathing apparatus and enter burning structures with an experienced partner. He is an enthusiastic member of the brigade, already asking for more advanced training.
Justin’s decision to join the Brigade came with the support of his wife Tamara and 8 year old daughter Bailey. The commitment to train and respond to alarms at all hours means family backing is so important. His dad, Barry is proud of his son, giving him this quite wise advice; “don’t do anything silly”.

After leaving school in Upper Hutt, Justin apprenticed in his dad’s company, Classic Crafts Builders before going to other firms and eventually becoming self employed as a builder. He currently is contracted with Dedico Construction owned by Dean DiBona, also a member of the Brigade.

A “Petrol Head” is someone who likes cars, a lot. In his case, it’s hot rodding. You won’t catch him doing burnouts however. His interest is modifying cars from the 1960s to make them show pieces, not race cars. He and his dad are working on a 1960 Ford F100 pickup truck which has been completely stripped down and the modified rebuild “has a long way to go.” It can be an expensive hobby so they are taking time to do it right and not break the bank.

Although Justin is fairly new to the Brigade, he has been on a number of emergency calls doing what his level of training and qualification has allowed. A recent vegetation fire which involved several appliances from surrounding towns saw him working hard for 3 hours on a hose line on the flanks of the fire. It was a real lesson on the dynamics of a fire as the wind changes kept them busy.

If anyone is interested in what it takes to be a firefighter, talk to Justin. He’s just been through the challenging basics course. If asked what it means to be one, he’ll say “it’s hard to explain what it means to be a firefighter but it is a great thing to be a part of”. He encourages anyone to come along to see what it’s about before making a commitment.