As at Monday, October 13 ,we have responded to 257 calls for the calendar year to date.

We have been back to being busy again with 13 calls for the fortnight - five false alarms, four motor vehicle crashes, two of which required extrication with rescue equipment.

There were four medical assists with mixed feelings – three resulted in patients successfully being transferred to ambulance alive, but sadly one was fatal.

This is an unusual statistic for us, as around 90% of the time, medical calls do not result in a successful outcome.

On a lighter note, we held our annual honours night on September 27 to recognise our members’ service and commitment to this amazing community.

We made special presentations of thanks to some key supporters of our brigade throughout 2024-25:

Metalco has regularly been able to provide cars for us to cut up for practice, which is difficult now that it no longer has them in Te Puke. When we need cars, they truck them from other parts of the country.

Southern Cross Horticulture has provided generous sponsorship of our recently introduced cadet programme.

Its funding has enabled us to provide uniform and protective clothing, undertake a St John first aid certificate and several field trips, including to the National Training Centre in Rotorua. The cadet programme is already well received and we could not have done it without the support of Southern Cross Hort.

With the help of Baygold, we had the opportunity to upgrade our van last year. However, the brigade had sunk most of our available resources and efforts into our shed project. Baygold came to the rescue with a generous cash sponsorship to enable us to purchase the van, which is a vast improvement on the old one.

Arun Mehan - Arun approached us around 18 months ago offering to make a significant donation to the brigade every time he sells a property. It was the start of a special relationship, and we are very grateful for his support.

United Fire Brigades Association honours

Three-year certificate: Joelle Simmons, Tess Brown.

Five-year medal: Denise Wyllie, Diana Hutchings, Peter Lindsay, Malachi White, Louie Schuler, Phil Clarke, Sara Holland.

Silver bar: John Wyllie (7 years), Dan Turner (9 years), Wayne Bain and Grant Scothern (19 years).

Forty-year certificate: Dale Lindsay (plus brigade 40-year trophy)

Gold Bar: Keith Merritt (33 years), Quentin Orr and Dale Lindsay (41 years).

These awards recognise a combined total of 205 years voluntary community service. ​

Brigade awards: (The executive and officers remove themselves from calculation of these awards as they are designed to encourage attendance, which is expected of officers.)

Gordon Watkins Memorial Attendance Trophy for most training musters: Grant Scothern 92%.

Harry Diprose Memorial Cup for highest attendance of emergency calls: Wayne Bain, who attended 230 of a possible 325 calls - 71%.

Rookie of the year trophy: Tess Brown.

Les Shepherd Firefighter of the year trophy: Mark Deacon

Watch Trophy – Blue Watch

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Te.Puke.Fire.Brigade