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1946 NEW ZEALAND

FIRE BRIGADES OF THE DOMINION (REPORT ON THE) BY THE INSPECTOR OF FIRE BRIGADES

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Comtnand of His Excellency

The Inspector of Fire Brigades to the Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs. Office of the Inspector of Fire Brigades, Wellington, 26th September, 1946. Sir,— I have the honour to submit the thirty-fifth annual report on the working of the Fire Brigades Act, 1926, for the year ending 31st March, 1946. ADMINISTRATION 1. No new fire districts were created during the year. This was largely due to the fact that it was common knowledge that new legislation was contemplated under which the territorial local authority could obtain contributions towards the cost of the local fire service from the Government and underwriters without the formation of an independent Fire Board. The number of Fire Boards in operation remains at sixty. FIRE SERVICE REORGANIZATION 2. During the war attention has been mainly concentrated on the furtherance of the reorganization scheme outlined in this report last year. It was to be expected that there would be some opposition to a major change such as that proposed. The two principal objectives are the provision of an organization for war or Civil emergency and the improvement of the finances of the smaller fire brigades. Neither is a question on which there is much public comment. The requirements of and the necessity for an emergency organization are little understood outside the Fire Service, and the question of brigade finance concerns the local authorities controlling the small municipal and county urban areas, which are the least vocal of our local-government authorities.