14 December 2007

Donation raises alarm

The Te Pohue Rural Fire Force will soon be called into action from hundreds of kilometres away, thanks to new radio equipment bought with a donation from Williams and Kettle.

The new equipment will allow the rural fire station’s siren to be activated remotely from the central fire communications centre. Paul Hawke, Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer for Hastings District Council, said the current system worked but relied on phone calls to have someone manually activate the siren in Te Pohue. Only then would the rest of the fire crew know to respond.

“The new system means the fire force members will hear the siren and respond seconds after the call goes out from Wellington, which is where the 111 calls end up. Any time they can save when responding to an incident will make a big difference, so we're grateful to Williams and Kettle for making this happen.”

ENDS

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