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October 2007

ISSUE

34

The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine

Cave rescue


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October 2007

Issue No. 34

Fire & Rescueis the flagshippublication of the New ZealandFire Service.

It is produced by Media,Promotions and Communications,National Headquarters,Level 9, 80 The Terrace, Wellington.

We welcome contributions fromFire Service personnel and their families.

Email stories and digital pictures to:[email protected](Pictures need to be at least 1MB)

Post written material and celluloidphotos, or photo CDs to:

Fire & Rescue magazine,PO Box 2133, Wellington.(These will be returned on request)

If you just have an idea or have anupcoming event you would likeFire & Rescueto cover, callthe editor on (04) 496 3675.

Fire & Rescueis online at:

www.fire.org.nz

ISSN: 1176-6670

All material in Fire & Rescuemagazine is

copyrighted and may not be reproduced

without the permission of the editor.

Front cover:Rescuers escort one of the

trapped cavers to freedom.

Photo courtesy of the Northern Advocate.

Back cover:Ange Munro sits and waits at

the Firefit Combat Challenge in Halifax,

Canada.

11 12

16 17

4

20

The Issue Whats in a name? ..............................................................................3

Cover Story Caved in ....................................................................................................4

Technology Technology Projects .............................................................................6

Awards Mother and Son....................................................................................8

Training TAP TAP TAP ............................................................................................9

Advance to go .....................................................................................10

Fire Camp .............................................................................................11

Tales from Afar The horde of Mongolia ..................................................................12

Incidents Cutting it fine ......................................................................................14

On ma roof ...........................................................................................14

My kingdom for a tanker .............................................................15

When the lights go out..................................................................16

Equipment Getting a fraction more traction ..............................................17

In the Community Who ya gonna call? .....................................................................18

Fun & Games Who needs a World Cup? ...........................................................19

The toughest two minutes in sport ........................................20

Netting the big one .........................................................................22

Game Plan............................................................................................22

Noticeboard Notes and events .............................................................................23
mailto:[email protected]://www.fire.org.nz/http://www.fire.org.nz/mailto:[email protected]


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Whats in a name?

For example:

Their Type 1 is our Level 4 and

our Level 3 is their Type 4.

It is therefore timely for the Fire Service to adopt a different classification for its protective clothing,one that reflects what the different garments are actually used for.

Level 1 becomes Wildfire/Rescue Uniform For vegetation fires and rescue incidents

Level 2 becomes Structural Firefighting Uniform For structural fires

Level 3 becomes Chemical Splash Suit For non vapourising chemical spills

Level 4 becomes Gas Suit For vapourising chemical spills

Observant members of the Fire Service would have noticed that much of our official documentation has alreadyheaded down this path and now it is timely to adopt the above as the standard descriptors for our protective clothing.

By Keith Whale

Since 1989 the New Zealand

Fire Service has identified its

protective clothing by Levels, with

our main protective ensembles being

identified as follows:

Level 1 For vegetation fires and

rescue incidents

Level 2 For structural fires

Level 3 For non-vapourising

chemical spills

Level 4 For vapourising chemical spills

This system has always created room forconfusion as none of the titles indicated the

purpose for which the clothing was used. Thisproblem has been aggravated in the last fewyears by international standards organisations,

which have adopted a similar classification that

bears no relationship to the one the NZFScurrently uses.

3The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine October 2007 3

The Issue


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This was a high drama rescue and therisk of tragedy was extremely high.

Whangarei Police Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe

CAVEDIN

By Maria Cowin

25Northland-basedFireService

personnelhelpedrescueagroupof

eightexplorersaftertheybecam

e

trappedinrisingcavewaters.

The eight, made up of six

teenagers, a helper and aninstructor had been out on what

began as a youth developmentactivity at Waipu Caves, 130km

north of Auckland, but it turned

into a terrifying ordeal andspawned a multi-agency search

and rescue operation.

On September 19,

Northland experienced a

substantial downpour,which continued through

to the next day. Despite

the deluge, it was not

enough to prompt aMetService heavy rain alert

for the region.

12 students, two helpers and one

instructor had entered the caves onthe morning of the 20ththrough the

Meddling Needles entry. Hours later,while they were trying to exit the

cave system via the Daylight Duck

(so named because cavers must duck

underwater to get out) the waterlevel rose unexpectedly and rapidly.

Six students and one helper made it

out before the exit was completely

closed off, trapping six students, the

other helper and the instructor whoall had to travel 30 metres back up

the cave to a sand bank where they

were able to take refuge.

With the alarm raised, incident

control of the 60-person strong rescue

effort fell to one of Northlands mostexperienced search and rescuers,

Whangarei Police Senior Sergeant

Cliff Metcalfe.

Cliff activated the Police SAR and

Land Caves Rescue squads, called inlocal caving expert Robyn Scott to

act as Police caves advisor andrequested operational assistance from

the Fire Service.

Fire brigade volunteer crews fromWaipu, Ruakaka, Maunguturoto,

Kaiwaka and Ngunguru were on the

ground operating the pumps, helpingto establish a triage, and floodlighting

the area as nightfall approached.

Cliff says the immediate priority wasfor the Fire Service to pump water

out of the caves. The Waipu Brigade

had done this as part of a training

Issue No. 34

Cover Story


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PicturescourtesyoftheNorthe

rnAdvocate

exercise only two years prior, but that

was under fair weather conditions.

The pumps were able to lower the

water level and maintain an air gap

of approximately 20 millimetres for

well over an hour, however rain wasstill falling quite heavily in the hills.

Eventually the pumps were unable to

cope with the amount of incomingwater, and the water levels again

began to rise until the air gap was

almost gone. However the pumpinghad brought some much-needed

time to prepare adequately for the

actual rescue.

We put a couple of cavers in with

the trapped group to communicate

the rescue plan from the inside,says Cliff.

The sheltering chamber was small

and movement was restricted, so the

group would have to exit the tunnelone by one. From the exit they needed

to swim out into the abyss without

breathing apparatus, making theirway out of the drama through the

Daylight Duck.

A caver wed sent down would take

one student at a time down to the

exit and when a person was about toduck down to go out, wed relay

through a series of rope signals and a

phone line wed set up. Once through,

wed haul them out.

Fraser Wright, a Whangarei career

firefighter, actually responded as a

volunteer member of the Land SARCaves Rescue team.

We were all in the hole together,

said acting Northland Fire RegionManager Allan Kerrisk. This

incident showed the teamwork of

the different emergency services particularly around communi-

cations.

Cliff agrees. There was great

cooperation at the cave entrance

between the Fire Service and police.The Fire Service also brought in

lighting I dont know how they did

it, but suddenly there it was and it

was a Godsend.

You had professionals in an environ-

ment that required a professional

approach, and everybody got on withthe job very well.

5The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine October 2007

Cover Story


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By Russell Wood

Director, Strategic Projects

TECHN

PROJ

Thermal Imaging Cameras (TIC)The Fire Service has been rolling out modern, lightweight TICs for severalyears as par t of a national strategy. A trial took place in September to identifythe subsequent generation TIC to be bought over the next 3-4 years.

TIC technology is developing all the time, resulting in smaller, lighter cameraswith better image resolut ion and greater temperatureoperating ranges. The trial will identify the TIC that best suits our needsfor the future.

Mobile Status UnitsAs part of the move to a UHF networkin Auckland a new digital Mobile StatusUnit has been developed. Whilst limitedto just Auckland at this stage it will be theprecursor to further developments inthis area that will eventually be rolled outacross the country.

Asset TrackingThe NZFS is looking at how bar coding and RadioFrequency Identification (RFID) technology might enableus to better track and monitor some of our importantoperational assets. Currently a trial is being planned thatwill evaluate both types of technology as a means to

track assets such as hose, breathing apparatus andcylinders. If successful there may also be an extension ofthe technology into non-operational assets as well.

Automatic Vehicle Location PilotThis project is conducting a pilot of AVL units in 24 appliances, in parts ofthe Arapawa and Western Regions. The AVL units will allow Comcenoperators to see the exact location of appliances when making dispatchdecisions. The trial will evaluate the potential benefits of this technologyfor mobilizing and more general fleet management.

This pilot is being run using the same technology as the Police use in theirpatrol cars.

Hazmat/Command UnitsThe Hazmat/Command Unit build programme is now wellunderway with 16 of these specialist vehicles to be rolledout over the next 18-24 months. The InformationCommunications Technology (ICT) is always developing inthis area so the project steer ing committee and our own ITDepartment will be continually reviewing potentialimprovements that make the units more effective as well asmaking it easier for personnel operating the vehicles.

Issue No. 34

Technology


7/24

OLOGY

ECTS

BA Strategy Project BA TechThis is a project to develop the specification for thenext BA set the NZFS will buy. The sets now come withoptions for the remote monitoring of wearers, heads-updisplays, built-in communications and integrated alarms.This project will identify which of these technologies willgive us benefits in our operational environment.

The project will involve a show and tell of the varioustechnologies, which wil l be evaluated as par t of the

process to develop the user requirement.

In-Car Navigation TrialA trial and evaluation of various proprietary in-car navigationtechnologies is underway in several Regions. The target audienceis the CFO and AFRC groups as many are required to cover largegeographic areas in both their response and management roles.While this technology is now becoming more common, its

important the Fire Service assess the benefits and the costsinvolved in deploying these units around the country.

Incident GroundCommunicationsAn IGC Strategy Group has been formed to lookat the future of this communication technology forthe NZFS. One of their areas of emphasis will beevaluating various helmet and BA mask mountedcommunications system. informal trials are alreadyunderway involving this technology. The strategygroup will be responsible for coordinating theresults of these trials and deciding what is the bestfit for the NZFS environment.

Command & Control Software TrialAs part of our commitment to the national rollout of Hazmat/Command vehicles we are trialing an electronic command andcontrol and incident action planning system. The Melbourne

Metropolitan Fire Board has developed the software and the NZFS isone of four agencies involved in a partnership trial and futuredevelopment agreement. An initial 6-month trial is underway at fivelocations involving existing Command Units and new Hazmat/Command vehicles.


Technology


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On September 3, at the Pencarrow Rotary Clubs meeting held at the Lowry Bay Yacht Club,

Rotarys highest award, the Paul Harris Fellowship, was awarded to CFO Ross Carroll and his

mother, Lyn Carroll, for their outstanding service to the community of Eastbourne.

PresidentLesIsaac, FireRegion CommanderBillButzbach,ADGSueMills andDGPatWaiteflankedbytheClubs

twoPaul Harris AwardrecipientsRoss andLynCarroll.

This is the first time this prestigious

award has been made to a mother

and son at the same time in NewZealand. Fire Region Commander

Bill Butzbach was in attendance for

this special occasion.

Pencarrow Rotary President, Les

Isaac, made a speech from which the

following is an excerpt:Lyn has served the Eastbourne

community for a good part of 57years with both Days Bay Volunteer

Fire Brigade and Eastbourne

Volunteer Fire Brigade. For many

years Lyn took the responsibility oflooking after the radio room at the

station. She was also, for a short

period, the truck driver for thebrigade, even though she was not

allowed to help put the fires out!

And of Paul he comments:

Ross Percy Carroll has been in the

brigade for 32 years. He joined the

day he became eligible. Truth is he

was jumping the engine well before.

He was given the duty as Chief Fire

Officer following his father, Evans,

retirement. He is regarded in the

Fire Service as a highly proficient and

capable CFO.

If you combine the service of Lyn,

Ross and Evan youll get 134 years!

The award was made by RotarysDistrict Governor Pat Waite.

Volunteers from Brigade 46 formed a

guard of honour at the conclusion of

the evening. The presentation wasfollowed by a prolonged standing

ovation for the two.

Issue No. 34

Awards


9/24

By Brendan Nallyon behalf of National Training

The RoadshowWe set out to deliver information aboutthe TAPS implementation to the majority

of staff and we reckon we achieved

our aim.

On behalf of the team that presentedduring the roadshow I would like

to thank everyone who attended for

their positive attitude and thoughtfulquestions.

As a result of the healthy and robust

discussion that is occurring aroundTAPS there have been some alterations

made. Two are noteworthy. First, there

will now be a further last-chance SSO

exam in February, that exam is open toall substantive Station Officers.

Secondly, the Whyte Island practical

course can now be taken instead of theold paper C. More info can be found on

the Progression Permutation Chart on

the TAPS site on Firenet.

Programme ApplicationsSome programmes have already started

but this doesnt mean anyone has missed

out. Applications are always open buthave rolling cut-offs. This means that

you can apply anytime for any

programme. The programmes start dateis dictated by the practical course, so

close-off for individual programmes will

occur several weeks before that. If you

miss a cut-off your name will simply getadded to the next available programme.

It is important to note that there are no

quotas; you will be enrolled if eligible.

First ProgrammesThe QF programme kicked off on 1

October. These guys were started first asthere is a need to get them through

quickly so they are eligible for promotion

to QF on their two year anniversary.

TAPTAPAnd now for an update from your friendly TAPS crew.

TAP

Next is the first of the SSO programmes

and by the time this is published many

of the SO programmes will have

started with others following closelybehind. Following them will be the SF

programme which has 24 applicants

to date.

The SO and SSO programmes have

received more applications than

expected, at the time of writing wehave passed 100 SO applications and

have 42 SSO applications. We will

need to prioritize who gets on the

first couple of SO practical courses a process for this is being worked

through with the union and should

be finalised by the time this hits theprinters. Everyone who has applied

for an officers programme, and is

eligible, will be enrolled.

National Training managers arevery happy that many long serving

Senior Firefighters and Station

Officers have signed up for TAPSprogrammes. Many of our senior

people are setting an admirable

example for our newer people.

IT SiteIt is fair to say that progress on theIT site has been slower than was

hoped. Keep an eye on it though as

more information is being addedregularly.

GeneralLearner Support has now an actual

human! Her name is Jo Douglas,

and shes worked for us before.For those that dont know her she

has an extensive background

in adult education including

development, delivery and assess-ment of provider and NZQA

standards. Jo is ensuring that

National Training will be ableto effectively support you as a

learner.

The programmes have a

number of manuals, these

manuals are considered livingdocuments. This means that

they are subject to on-goingreview and evaluation. If you

discover an error pleasesubmit it for correction.

To do this you go to Firenet

home and then Training/Training Material/Feedback

and Suggestions/Feedback

Form. Fill out the form it willtake just a minute.

Finally, thank you again for the

positive way that TAPS hasbeen received and good luck

with your study.


Training


10/24

CHANCEW

ATER

WORK

S

PeterWilding

Geoff

Purcell

The programme will provideopportunities for project work andsecondments that allow you to work

in a more strategic environment.From the initial district advanceprogramme I went on a three-monthsecondment working out of NationalHeadquarters on the SMS TotalStation Workload project. Thisexperience broadened my thinkingand I gained a national perspective ofthe organisation.

The first step is to make an applicationto be on the programme and then just

be yourself during the process. Geoffencourages all staff wishing to progressinto management to apply for theprogramme as the organisation needsstrong future leaders and the pro-gramme definitely provides for this.

Peter Wilding, National RecruitmentManager completed the programmein 2006. His group visited a numberof fire regions and state agencies andwas exposed to a wide variety ofissues at regional and national level.

Peter says establishing valuablenetworks throughout the countrywas the highlight of the programme

as well as being coached by a broad

range of senior managers.

Participants are encouraged

to further their personal

development through additionalstudies supported by the Fire Service.

During the programme, Petercompleted a diploma in Business

Studies and has recently returned

from the Australian Institute of PoliceManagement in Sydney were he and

fellow Kiwi DCFO, Tim Bennion,

recently gained Graduate Certificates

in Applied Management.

While its not essential to be on

the Advance programme to receive

Fire Service support for personaldevelopment, it shows that you are

hungry to learn and interested in

preparing yourself as a future leader.

The more experience and learning you

can gain in business management and

strategic leadership, the better the

quality of decisions you will be able tomake in your role as a leader. Peter

believes the Advance Programme is

an exceptional opportunity and has

been enormously valuable in preparingme for district and national roles.

Its a huge help to anyone wishing toprogress through the organisation.

The ADVANCEprogramme is looking

for applicants for its secondprogramme targeting potential

regional managers.

We ask ourselves,

who am I to be brilliant,

go rgeous , tal en ted, and

famous? Actually, who are younot to be? Your playing small doesnt

serve the world. There is nothing

enlightened about shrinking so that

other people wont feel insecure

around you.

We are all meant to shine. And as

we let our own light shine, we

unconsciously give other people

permission to do the same.

Nelson Mandela

This years applicants will be those

aiming for DCFO or CFO roleswithin the Fire Service.

Heres what two people who have

taken part had to say.

Geoff Purcell, now National Training

Centre Manager says the Advance

programme is an excellent oppor-tunity to validate your competencies

through the assessment centre

process. Although this may seemthreatening to some, it is essential tofinding out your actual strengths and

weaknesses.

0 Issue No. 34

Training


11/24


12/24

The horde of

MongoliaTake a group of New Zealand representatives.Train them up, make them the best weve got, then send them overseas.

The All Blacks lost, but these guys represented us with aplomb.

Its the second largest land-locked nation on Earth.

Its the least densely populated independent country inthe world, and approximately 30 percent of the

countrys 2.8 million people are nomadic or semi-

nomadic. Welcome to Mongolia, home to this yearsInternational Search and Rescue Advisory Group(INSARAG) International Urban Search and Rescue

(USAR) earthquake response exercise.

The exercise was held in Mongolias capital city, UlaanBataar and simulated a major earthquake striking

Mongolia (Richter scale reading: 6.5). According to

the overview, the aim of the exercise was to developeffective international relationships and methodology

to improve international USAR assistance following

sudden onset (natural or man-made) disasters

resulting in collapsed structure.

Picturedfromleft:JimStuart-Black,GraemeMills,PaulBurns.

2 Issue No. 34

Tales from Afar


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Representing New Zealand were Jim Stuart-Black,

National Manager Special Operations, Paul Burns (joint)Task Force Leader, Graeme Mills (joint) Task Force

Leader and Sarah Stuart Black, National Manager, Civil

Defence and Emergency Management Specialist Services.

The team flew via Seoul and got to spend 24 hours of

comparative relaxation there before leaping straight intothe firing line.

They arrived at the airport of Ulaan Bataar (or as Jim says:

UB to those of us in the know) where they were quickly

driven across town to the official welcoming reception.

Jim told Fire & Rescuethat the drive across town was likesomething out of a movie. The roads were terrible, half

the cars had steering wheels on the left, the other half had

them on the right, most had no lights, and there was someovertaking that shouldnt have happened! The landscape

didnt make a huge impression on Jim. Basically, Mongolia

is two major cities, then nothing, just desert.Mongolias Prime Minister, Miyeegombyn Enkhbold,

conducted the official welcoming reception before official

proceedings began.

Day one was primarily made up of going through United

Nations protocols; it was at this point that a big mark of

respect was bestowed upon Jim and his team. They were

approached and asked to help run the exercise. Jim told

Fire & Rescuethat this was a huge honour. We were just

a small member of the exercisebut I believe that they

(the organisers) recognised the can do Kiwi attitude.

Because of our size and the fact we tend to have lessresources weve learnt better systemsweve got a real

depth of knowledge.

Jim said a couple of people had suggested

that it wasnt really worthwhile going overto take part in the exercise only to end up

running it. Not so says Jim, we learnt more from

facilitating than we did playing in it, and we learnt

other skills that those taking part in the exercise

wouldnt have gained.For the exercise, the Mongolian Government had decided

they could not handle the humanitarian crisis on their ownand so had requested aid. For the sake of the exercise, all

participants were processed through the airport, a simple

procedure one would have thought, but one that threw upsome serious red herrings. To make the situation more

real, some of the aid workers were red flagged at the

airport so were not allowed in. This would leave some

nations teams without a leader. It was this attention todetail that made the exercise such an effective tool.

As a facilitator, Jim and this team was in charge of a situationroom. Ulaan Bataar had been divided up into four districtsfollowing the earthquake; each district had been assigned a

situation room. NZs contingent headed up one of these

rooms; its participants were Mongolia, Russia and Japan.If you think about it, its obvious that each country would

bring a different method of working to the table, the trick

was getting them to talk to one another rather than across.

I know some other countries had a real difficulty in gettingtheir groups to work cohesively.

Cohesiveness was the order of the day as there were 17

different nations taking part, and about 120 people,

but it was the consensus of all involved that the exercisewas a success.

Jim told Fire & Rescue: Throughout the course of

the exercise I noticed a lot of the practices we use in

New Zealand being used as international bestpractices by the other groups.

GraemeMills(left), andPaulBu

rns

flankaMongolianfirefighter.


Tales from Afar


14/24

This Celica crashedand rolled on

State Highway 1about 10km southof Moeraki, nearOamaru.

Both occupants werewearing seatbelts which

saved them from serious

injury.

A 12-year-old boy wasairlifted from the scene

whilst his 19-year-oldsister, who was driving,was taken by ambulance.

Both were taken to

Dunedin Hospital.

Four people were cutfree from this wreckage

when a car crashed into

a truck in Porirua on

Sunday, September 2.

The driver, a 17 year old girl,

suffered serious knee, chest andhead injuries whilst a 16 year old

passenger was taken to hospital

with serious neck and chestinjuries. The remaining two

passengers suffered moderate

injuries.

4 Issue No. 34

Incidents

Cutting it f ine


15/24

My kingdom

for a tanker!Charred remains are all that are left of thishouse located 5km south of Hawera.


Incidents

On September 29, just before 8.30pm, the Fire Service

was inundated with emergency calls from people passing,

who spotted flames enveloping this farmhouse.

The houses water tank was empty, but even had it not been,

given the intensity of the fire, the tank would have beeninaccessible. The nearest hydrant was 2km away. Given

there was no source of water at the property, two tankers

full of water were sent from Fonterras Whareroa Plant.

To avoid such a situation repeating itself, Hawera

Volunteer Fire Brigade is working towards gaining its

own tanker.

Currently, Fonterra provides the tankers at no cost to the

Fire Service because it is often Fonterras shareholders

they are supporting. However the brigade would dearlylove to have their own tanker. CFO Darryl Fowler told

the Taranaki Daily News that this will enable water to besent along with the fire appliances, meaning valuable

minutes will be saved. That way, as soon as we get calledout, we can get another water source on the road.

Were hoping to have it up and running by mid

November.

At this stage, police in Hawera believe the fire was caused

by an electrical fault.


16/24


17/24

Getting afraction moretractionDuring the bitterly cold winter just gone, the

Fire Service issued a new item of protective

equipment to brigades exposed to the

worst effects of winters blast.

Yaktrax are a boot over grip that greatly improves the

traction of standard fire boots. They were trialled inDunedin during some of the worst snow storms of the

year and proved exceptionally effective allowing ourcrews to keep their footing at MVAs when Police and

Ambulance staff found it impossible to do so.

Following this successful trial, regions were asked tosubmit a list of trucks which operate in icy conditions so

that Yaktrax could be issued to all such vehicles on a scale

of one pair per seat. This resulted in over four hundredpairs being delivered to affected brigades in July.

Rumour has it that the Police, Ambulance and armedforces are all now following the NZFS lead and are

introducing Yaktrax where the climatic conditions

warrant it.


Equipment


18/24

Who ya gonna call?Emergency Services Open Day, 8thSeptember 2007, Hastings NZ

By Kerry Marshall

When Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres spoke

at the Emergency Services Open Day, he recalled a time

when he had arrived in New Zealand as a new immigrant.The event was aimed in particular at non-English

speakers and also people from countries where an

emergency service response could be markedly differentfrom here in New Zealand. Even things such as our

emergency number being 111 instead of the 999 or 911

they grew up with can be confusing during the high

anxiety of an emergency situation.

The day, organised in part by Eastern FSO Michael Bull

and Hawkes Bay Settlement Support Co-ordinator Nina

Siers, was an opportunity for people new to the countryto meet our emergency services. Displays included the

111 simulator, dog unit, kitchen fire trailer, and vehicles

from the Fire Service, Police and Ambulance. Children (and some older

children who were keen)

were able to sit in thevehicles or even try their

hand with some of the

equipment. Staff from allthree of the services were

on hand to answer

questions and show

people around.

At midday Joris

de Bres along

with Labour MPRick Barker

launched a pack

for new arrivalsto New Zealand

detailing

emergency

services, vitalinformation

and how to

contact theservice they

need in an

emergency.

The day was a

success and will be

taken further withfuture events and wideravailability of the

information pack.

RaceRelationsCommissioner

JorisdeBres addressestheforum.

8 Issue No. 34

In the Community


19/24

Who needs a World Cup?The All Blacks may have crashed out of the World Cup in a highly embarrassing fashion, the

reconditioning programme may have been found out to be a sham and we havent got a test quality

2nd5/8 for next year but that shouldnt detract from some quality rugby that went on recently.


ByJohn Rowe

The 2007 Fire Services

annual Rugby Tour-

nament was held onFriday and Saturday

the 7 th and 8 th of

September. Played atKilbirnie Park, the

tournament was made

up of teams represent-

ing Otago, Wellington,Hawkes Bay, Waikato and

Northland/Auckland.

The tournament festivitiesstarted on the Friday night, which

was fun with all teams going out

and enjoying the nightlife ofWellington. This may have proven

costly for some of the teams on

Saturday as a few sore heads ran

onto the field that morning.

The final was playedbetween Wellington and Northland/Auckland

with Wellington emerging victorious in a raresporting victory for the capital.

But thats not the only rugby on show that day, the golden

oldies tournament was also a popular feature played forbetween Wellington and Hutt Districts, once again

Wellington took the winners trophy.

Prize giving was a long night as guys told lies abouthow good they were on the field. Trophies and awards

were handed out and the national

team was announced. Sundaymorning drew a few more

sore heads and bodies to the

Squad room at City Stationfor a few drinks andgoodbyes.

The tournament was a

fantastic success and we alllook forward to Hamilton

next year. I ask that anyone

from brigades outside of theteams who attended this year

to get together and get a team

up and running for next year.Teams can be made up from

more than one brigade or district.

My thanks go out to all our

sponsors.

Fun & Games


20/24

First, you carry 19kg of hose up six flights of stairs, then reel up another 19kg of hose

tied to 16mm of rope. Swing a 4.5kg mallet into a weight moving it 5 feet, sprint 42m

through an obstacle course, fire a hose into a target then drag an 80kg dummy 30m.

of the Combat Challenge in March of this year and in

August she took on Canadas best and took

out the Canadian National Combat Challenge forgood measure.

In Canada, Ange didnt expect to do nearly as well as shedid. I wasnt expecting to do a good time. I would have

been happy with 2:30. After competing in two Regional

competitions in Brampton and Quebec City,I was hovering around the 2:40 time. With support

from the other competitors I did 2:23 on the first day of

the Nationals. For the finals I just went for broke and

did it in 2:15.36!

Ange clocked in 5 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor;

to get an idea of how massive that is, one

Its not for the faint of heart. Welcome to the New Zealand

Firefighter Combat Challenge

The New Zealand event began in 2005 and is managedby the United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA). Whilst

only in its infancy here in New Zealand, the first event

worldwide was held at the Maryland Fire RescueInstitute in the US in 1991.

The Combat Challenge pits volunteer and career crews

from around the country in a series of regional heatsculminating in the final at the UFBA Annual Conference.

And there are some serious competitors taking part.

Ange Munro won the Worlds Toughest Firefighter event

in Hong Kong last year, she won the New Zealand edition

insport

Thetoughesttwominutes insport

Thetoughest

twominutes

AngehasawelldeserveddrinkfollowinghereffortsinCanada.

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only needs to look at the mens competition where

0.19 seconds separated first from third.

But Ange doesnt just take part for the glory.The Combat Challenge is a serious test its

two minutes of pure hell! Its good training and

keeps my fitness up. I get to travel to some fantasticplaces and meet some incredible people. I am

definitely going back to Canada next year and

already have places to stay.

The Regional Challenge committees of the UFBA

and Firefighter Kinetics Charitable trust, founded

by Rob Holah, have been working closely to design

the NZ event, it ran for the first time last year (Angewon the New Zealand womens competition!) and

this year the event will be touring the country,

culminating in a national championship.

The Regional Firefighter Combat Challenges will be

taking place around NZ over Summer on the

following dates:

Auckland (1 December)

Wellington (8 December)

With the Christchurch and Queenstownchallenges to occur early next year.

Registration for the event opened on October 8

and entry forms can be downloaded from

http://www.firefighterchallenge.org.nz


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Netting the big oneWe have all heard of the All Blacks reconditioning programme, well the Silver Ferns had

their own take on it.

Transalpines Regional Train-

ing Officers Gary Luff and

Mark Elstone, were privilegedto be asked to run a team

building session for New

Zealands own, Silver Ferns.

The session was organisedto help the team build up for

the World Championshipsbeing held in Auckland inNovember.

The gentleman standing legs

akimbo with a styly pair ofAviators on is Senior Trainer

Gary Luff, who without

his influence and contacts,

this event would not havehappened.

Game

Plan

This is a team photo from the Game Plan meeting held at

Wellingtons Cake Tin. There were two editions of the meeting

held on August 28/29 and August 30/31. This particular photo was

taken on day 1 of the first meeting. The Conference was a learning

opportunity and a great chance to share leadership vision for the

future. It challenged our leaders to engage their teams in practical

initiatives that complement the direction of the organisation.

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www.fire.org.nzThe New Zealand Fire Service Magazine

Published October 2007

By the New Zealand Fire Service

Media, Promotions & Communications

National Headquarters, Wellington
http://www.fire.org.nz/http://www.fire.org.nz/

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