Prime Minister John Key and his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, recently acknowledged the valuable role played by volunteer rural firefighters, and thanked Principal Rural Fire Officer Bryan Cartelle and his Auckland Rural Fire crews for their work on New Zealand Rural Fire deployments to Australia.
Present at the occasion were members of the Great Barrier Island Volunteer Rural Fire Force, who have been on two Australian deployments, led by Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer Lance Dixon.
Great Barrier Island has over 50 Rural Fire volunteers who have supported the New Zealand Rural Response Team programme since its inception. As well as the Australian deployments, Great Barrier crews have fought fires around New Zealand, most recently at Arthur’s Pass in February.
“It was great to see the crew’s efforts acknowledged at the highest political level,” says Great Barrier Local Board Chair Izzy Fordham.
“The 2013 Claris fires are still fresh in the minds of most here, so it would be fair to say we are very proud of them, and very glad to have them here as part of our community on Great Barrier.”
