Our speaker for the evening was Assistant District Commander Craig Geddes from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
He started as a volunteers fireman in Ashburton 33 years ago, and then became a paid fireman 30 years ago, and is now one of six Assistant District Commanders in Otago, based in Dunedin.
He explained what the organisation does, and explained the expanding roles that FENZ seems to be called upon. Main function is still to prevent fires, and they also attend hazardous substance spills, motor vehicle accidents, rescues. And importantly medical emegency situations where they can often respond to a person, say with a heart attack, maybe quicker than an ambulance. Craig expanded on the scenarios, and explained how vitally important the volunteers crews are throughout the country. Nearly 8000 callouts a year in Otago.
So our Firemen are a crucial part of our society. Thank you to Craig for an excellent presentation.