Volunteers have played a part within the Fire Service in Hamilton for over 90 years; the Frankton Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed as a stand alone entity in May 1913 and a Fire Police unit operated from the main Hamilton station from 1927. Frankton was absorbed into the city brigade in July 1917 while the Fire Police were wound up in 1951. During the Second World War, provisions were made nationwide for an Emergency Fire Service and Hamilton had it’s own volunteers trained at city station.
Many years later, in September 1998, a volunteer unit was re-established operating out of Hamilton Central Station on Anglesea Street and manning our own 1978 International 2150B medium pump. The idea was to have a local on-tap resource to back up and supplement the career firefighters without having to call out neighbouring brigades. In the first year the unit won two trophies in the NZFS driving competitions! A couple of years later we were re-located to the mechanics workshops behind Chartwell station, which date from 1969, and this is where we have remained to this day. Until early 2006 we were allocated one bay and the kitchen/bathroom facilities of this building with the mechanic having the remaining two bays. With the mechanics moving to their own facility in the suburb of Te Rapa, we have now claimed a second bay with a dividing wall being erected to use the third bay as a regional storage facility.
Over the last 18 to 24 months it was decided the best use for volunteers within Hamilton City was not in actual firefighting, rather as a support resource and the Hamilton Volunteer Fire Brigade based at Chartwell Fire Station have been reformed and re-equipped. The present Hamilton Fire District Volunteers take over where this unit left off, having surrendered the truly operational firefighting role and picking up tasks termed as Operational Support.
Operational Support is a concept whereby members do not physically put out fires, rather they provide dedicated technical and logistical support to the New Zealand Fire Service at emergency incidents. A specialist team, we are the experts at what we do and the firefighters are the experts at what they do – complimenting each other to achieve a successful end. Operational Support members also take part in community events, fire safety promotions and the like.
The Hamilton Volunteers undertake as their core functions; Emergency Lighting & Power Generation, Salvage, Urban Search & Rescue, Scene Management, Storm/Flood/Disaster work and Civil Defence assistance. It is also possible we will take part in manning the new combined HAZMAT/Command Unit in the future, however in an overall context we are capable of providing any assistance necessary not involving attacking the fire.
Events / About / History / Vehicles / Multimedia / Employers / Links
