FIRE BRIGADE REPORT – Call-out milestone: SIX each week

Martinborough’s Volunteer Fire Brigade crews reached the 150 call-out milestone in May. That’s an average of 6 calls per week across our fire and medical response units.

Did you know that volunteers make up 80% of all firefighters in New Zealand? Martinborough is

100% volunteer crewed, so we’d like to thank those of you who employ our volunteers and allow

them to respond during working hours. 

We know the strain it can place on the workplace at times, but without you, we can’t respond to those emergency calls. Fire and Emergency New Zealand has an employer recognition programme, so do ask your volunteer about that if you haven’t already signed up.

The Fire Season has moved to OPEN. While this means you can finally deal to those burn piles, there are steps you can take to make sure they don’t get away on you – go to

www.checkitsalright.nz/reduce-your-risk for advice on this. Keep your burn piles 5 metres away from trees and other flammable material and check the wind conditions first.

We know some of you are reluctant or unsure about when something counts as an emergency

worthy of a 111 call. Call takers are trained to triage these, so if in doubt, please reach out. Our

firefighters and medical first responders are all your neighbours and friends, so we would rather see you early on than respond later when things have turned serious.

Please contact Acting Chief Fire Officer Lisa-Marie Ireland on 027 363 1066 if you’d like to find out more about becoming a volunteer or for more information on any of the above.