Fire equipment run down

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 10

Fire equipment run down

PA Wellington New Zealand has 376 fire stations, ranging in value from 320 to S2M according to the annual report of the Fire Station Commission, tabled in Parliament. “Converted houses, roadside sheds, former county I council depots, converted shops, and old garages have become fire stations because of cheapness or availability,” the report said. To control costs a range of standard designs had been prepared to match different local needs. “The large central fire stations of the past may tend to be gradually replaced by a network of smaller stations,” the commission said. The commission, established under the Fire Service Act 1975, said it was conscious of the great amount of voluntary service given by members of urban fire authorities over the last 25 years. "Fragmented administra-

non has, however, resulted in a wide variety of local policies and practice which need to be unified in order to develop a single integrated service of wider flexibility and potential.” The commission said the main deficiencies were the number of sub-standard fire stations, the number of antiquated fire appliances, the lack of co-ordinated communications, and a shortage of uniforms for volunteer firemen. About 5 per cent (52) of fire engines were between 10 and 18 years old, 33 per cent (246) between five and nine years old, and only 148 were less than five years old, the report said. “Almost half of the appliances owned by the volunteer brigades are over 18 years old. and in the smaller brigades 62 per cent are over 18 years old. There are 20 pre--1939 vehicles still in operation.”

The commission said that subject to available funds, it planned to buy _45 new engines in the 1976-7 / financial year. The commission said that on April 1, it became liable to pav interest and principal on loans of SB.IM, raised by fire authorities. Most of the securities were in the form of inscribed stock registered at the Reserve Bank. Three hundred and seventy-five houses and flats throughout New Zealand became the property of the commission on April 1. “The housing policy of the former fire authorities foliow’ed no consistent pattern, and the rentals charged to firemen under a variety of

formulae range from S 3 to $22 a week,” the report said. "In general the commission favours gradual disposal of houses and flats, subject of course to necessary exceptions. The executive fire officers’ agreement, by which the commission is bound, provides for free housing, fuel, light and power; a carry-over from the days when resi-

dence on station was considered essential.” The commission said this entitlement could perhaps be replaced with an accommodation allowance. "Officers would then be encouraged to buy their own homes, at current market prices as a hedge against inflation, pending retirement.”