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MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Emergency services record busiest season on record
Mangawhai Volunteer Fire Brigade (MVFB) chief Rob Leslie says the local service has had their busiest year on record, with over 141 call-outs consisting of 59 fire-related calls with two regarding vehicles, mainly vegetation on fire, 10 relating to weather, 10 motor vehicle accidents, 13 medical assistance, 16 helicopter landings, two hazardous substances, four alarm activations and two animal rescues, with MVFB’s new ‘Hino tanker’ assisting other brigades with structure and vegetation fires 25 times throughout the year. Medical calls and helicopter landing call-outs for St John were also a lot higher than previous years Leslie says. “However, most people were careful not to light fires over our very dry holiday season with only one fireworks-related fire in the village on New Year’s Eve. We also had a lot of engagement from the public at the Domain gala interested in fire safety around the house,” he says. “We have four new recruits, two started last year and a husband and wife who are starting their training this year, and the team have also enjoyed our first 12 months of occupation in our new fire station.”
Big demand for St John over peak holiday period During the peak holiday period between December 20 and January 26 2021, St John attended 1170 emergency incidents in Rodney territory, with 104 in the Mangawhai response area, and the majority, 922, requiring transport to a treatment centre. Ambulance officers responded and treated a combination of medical and trauma-related emergencies, with chest pain, falls, breathing problems and losing consciousness or fainting the most common St John Rodney Territory Manager Megan Fairly says. “St John is grateful for the collaborative work of its emergency partners, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Surf Life Saving New Zealand, who have worked alongside our ambulance crews at a number of incidents during the holiday period,” she says. “In addition to our fantastic paid staff across the district, we are thankful for the support of our dedicated volunteer ambulance officers, who have helped us continue to be there for the community over this busy summer season.”
“People were well-behaved, responsible and appeared to look out for each other,” he says. “Over the holiday period we deploy two additional staff in the Mangawhai area to ensure police remain highly visible and are able to provide the best possible service to the public.” Coetzee worked at the Northern Bass Festival at the end of the year, saying it ‘went off without a hitch’ and the organisers planning and operation ‘is getting better year after year’. However he is aware of reports that there was a significant increase in traffic on December 30-31 due to people coming in to Mangawhai Village to catch a bus to the event, which caused congestion at the Moir Street/Insley Road intersection by the GAS station. “This has been raised with the event organisers and it has been requested that their ‘traffic management plan’ include this intersection to better manage the influx of vehicles for their festival moving forward.” Overall, Coetzee says, the holiday season was a success for the Mangawhai, Wellsford and Kaiwaka communities and ‘it was really good to see everyone enjoying themselves’. “It’s a team effort between the police and the community and I’d just like to thank everyone for another lovely and enjoyable summer, and all the police here at Wellsford and Mangawhai love working in these communities.”
“People were well-behaved, responsible and appeared to look out for each other.” - Sergeant Rainier Coetzee, Mangawhai
Some of the MHVLS team, from left, Mark Vercoe, Mike Ardern, Geoff Sim, and Andrew Mumford. PHOTO/SUPPLIED Patient transport was a big part of the St John service over the peak period. PHOTO/JULIA WADE The local fire service has had their busiest year ever. |
JULIA WADE
No major incidents say police
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