Row & Raise for your Local Picton Fire Crew

The volunteer fire brigade are such a value add to the Picton Community.

They respond to 110-120 calls per year. I asked the crew, in jest, if their most common call out was cats in trees. Although, they recently rescued a driver and his two dogs, they are actually called out for a variety of reasons. Medical calls have increased tenfold with nearly 40% of their calls being medical lift assist, CPR , or Landing zones, security for helicopters. The rest are false alarms, vegetation fire, house fires, crashes and chemical spills.

The Volunteer Fire Crew need to be ready for all sorts, especially considering they have the biggest risk profile for the top of the South Island. To give you an idea, here are a few of the potential risks:

Ferries

Cruise Ships

Boating & Fishing

State Highway Traffic

Logging truck movement (100+ per day)

Dangerous goods in/out of area

Tourism

2nd largest marina in NZ

Aging population

Koromiko Airport

Forestry

Established in 1872, Picton is one of the oldest fire crew in NZ. They can have up to 30 crew, however, last year, they dropped to 12 staff. Thankfully they are back up to 23, however are always looking for more fire fighters. They are currently looking for a treasurer and secretary replacement.

The fire crew get called out to some challenging call outs, such as the truck and van incident 2 years ago. They are grateful for the support they get from their community and feel they are bouncing back from this. Lets keep supporting them and their work.