Saturday, May 24, 2008

First Photos have been Taken



After driving a 320km round trip from Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, the first 2 photos for the Calendar have been taken.
The first stop was at a small country Fire Rescue Station, Kirwee, 25 mins West of Christchurch in the Transalpine Fire District, Canterbury Region.
Our Female Firefighter, Kerri Pring is aged 21 years, has the Rank of Senior Firefighter, completing the course in January, and has been in the Fire Service as a Volunteer for just over 4 years. Kerri is the daughter of Kirwee's DCFO Andy Pring. She said it is a very family orientated station with family members and partners all part of the Brigade. Kerri has a son Jordy who will be 2 in July. She also works part-time Dairy Farming.
The second photo taken is also in the Transalpine Fire Region. Rakaia is a Fire Rescue Station, 50km South of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region.
Jill Tomlin and Karen Lowry are our two Firefighters from Rakaia. They are both Drivers and operate the pumps upon arriving at a Call out.
Jill is in her 40s, is married to a Firefighter ( her motto is: if you can't beat em, join em) also of the Rakakia Volunteer Brigade and holds the Rank of Firefighter. They have 1 teenage son and also run their own full time business. Jill is also active in the Firewise Programme and has been in the Brigade for 5 years.
Karen is in her 40s, she has been with the Fire Service for 10 years and has been at the Rakaia Brigade for 1 year, where her partner is also a Firefighter. They have 7 children between them and both work Full time. They are both active in the Firewise Programme. Karen is a Senior Firefighter, which means she gets to be in the front seat and make the decisions at the callouts if first on the scene.
Jill and Karen had their hair and makeup done at "a la mode" Hair Design, Railway Tce, Rakaia, by Rachael Marriott.
While we were at the Salon the fire siren went off and of course being a true NZ Firefighter that she is, Jill took off from her chair, hair freshly done, got to the Station, took the call, got on the truck and off to the call before Rach had time to check that she liked the style. It sounds like it is a regular occurrence, that's the second time Jill has left before her hair has been finished. Karen was not able to go as she was waiting for her foils to set. She was gutted. That is one time its not good to drop everything and race to a call. I managed to make it to the Station also and actually got to sit in the truck before I got stood down to let one of the Rakaia Firefighters have the seat. We eventually got the photos taken in the afternoon, in cold, wet conditions.

Check Out the photos of the Fire Stations and their stats, right >>>>>>>>

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