Lookout Point Station Officer Aaron Collins was one of the many Dunedin emergency service workers having a business as usual with a Christmas twist.
"This is a standard shift for me. We still have the same amount of staff on duty, but we prioritise spending time with loved ones, so we have some family visiting stations."
Across the city, there were 22 firefighters on day-shift duty attending callouts and keeping Dunedin safe.
The Fenz Lookout Point station crew got a reprieve from a hard day at work with the Roslyn Station stopping by with a Christmas ham to share a festive lunch.
To bring the Christmas spirit, Roslyn Station were in charge of bringing the ham, with Lookout Point hosting the premises.
SO Collins said any callouts would cut the celebrations short.
"We’ll just have to eat the ham cold — but that’s all good, it is what it is.
"We just have to go."
Many of the firefighters on duty yesterday were standing in for other rostered crew members, so the ones with children and families could spend time with their loved ones.
One of these people was qualified firefighter Mac Gordon.
Luckily, his partner, a fellow firefighter, arrived off the Roslyn truck to share in the Christmas lunch.
"They’ll stay for about an hour or an hour and a-half before heading off."
SO Collins said it was "business as usual with a bit more visitors than usual".
By lunchtime, nothing huge had happened, with the crew spending their morning coaxing a cat off a roof.
"We had a cat on a roof today — an absolute Christmas miracle.
"We put the ladder up and it jumped back down as expected."
Regional lifeguard Charlotte Underwood-Nichol and her two co-workers were spending a warm Christmas at St Clair keeping beach-goers safe.
The three were working 11am to 7pm, which left little time for festivities.
They all spent their mornings with families to sneak in some Christmas celebrations before heading down to the beach.
"It’s been a pretty chill shift so far, we’ve just been hanging out for the day," Ms Underwood-Nichol said.
