Help John Klaphake

All funds raised will be used to help pay for legal fees and will go directly to John's Lawyer's Trust.

John Klaphake was yesterday convicted of careless driving causing injury while driving a fire truck as a volunteer to a house fire.

We believe the New Zealand Fire Service has failed to provide John with any support, which has left him not only having to pay for his defence, but also having to pay compensation and court costs. In our opinion, this is wrong. We need to support our volunteers, such as John, who do so much work protecting our lives and property.

It seems perverse that there are operational guidelines in place which allow emergency respondents to go through red lights, but when someone makes a mistake, that they must personally bear all the consequences - including all the financial costs of a criminal prosecution.

John is a real community minded person - a giver - he not only is a volunteer with the Wellington Volunteer Fire Support Unit, but is also a volunteer firefighter with the Upper Hutt Rural Fire Force. We need these people in our community.

We believe the New Zealand Fire Service has failed to fulfill it's moral, ethical and social obligations to this volunteer firefighter. We will not let him down and will help provide what the Fire Service has failed to provide right from the start