The new vehicle is a welcome sight for the volunteer firefighters whose patch, St Leonards up to the Orokonui Ecosanctuary, includes tight, twisting roads and sandy shores.
On Saturday, the brigade and community came together to bless the new vehicle and garage.
Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade senior firefighter Adam Smith said rather than fires, the crew at the station was mainly going out to medical events.
"Homes around here are usually down roads and driveways with bad access, the truck can take a little longer to get there whereas this new vehicle is definitely a bit quicker."
The Port Chalmers brigade often are the first on the scene due to the amount of time it can take an ambulance to get out to the job by road.
Numbers provided by the station showed that for this year and last, out of 261 total call outs attended to by the Port Chalmers crew, 215 of those were medical responses.
Mr Smith said the process from conception to fruition took five years and a fundraising effort that led to $150,000 being raised for the new vehicle and a shed to store it in.
"Times are changing and the brigade is not going to purely fires now, we really do need full access."
For water rescues and beachside emergencies, the previous method of rescue was to use their own personal cars for beach access, or to flag down a passing motorist so they could drive on the sand.
The new vehicle also allowed the station to attend two jobs at once.
"It doesn’t happen a lot but it does happen — we now have the capabilities to go to both at once, which does nothing but benefit the community."
The fundraising was a community effort, a large chunk of funds coming from Port Otago and Community Trust.
