The firefighter who died helping evacuate residents at Muriwai on Monday night is being feted as a hero and remembered for his good humour, intelligence and supreme competence at anything he turned his hand to.
Widow Amy van Zwanenberg today said her family was utterly devastated by the sudden loss of her "extraordinary husband" Dave.
She called him “the cornerstone of our lives”.
Dave van Zwanenberg was killed when he and another firefighter were caught in a landslide as they tried to save a property in Muriwai in Auckland's west.
The property owner has paid her own tribute, saying she is totally overwhelmed and that van Zwanenberg is her "hero".
The New Zealand Herald understands the two volunteer firefighters were trying to dig a trench behind the woman’s Motutara Rd home on Monday night to divert water after being called to the property due to flooding.
As the pair worked, a giant slab of the hillside above them gave way - inundating the property with a mountain of sodden mud and debris.
Van Zwanenberg's body was pulled from the wreckage two days later. His colleague Craig Stevens was rescued and is fighting for his life in hospital.
His wife today said he was "first and foremost, a family man, Dave was dedicated to spending quality time with his children and building a life to nurture their growth".
“We decided that Muriwai and its beautiful community was the perfect place for this.
"Monday night started out as just another occasion where Dave made sure we were settled and safe at home and headed out to join the fire brigade and help his community.
"Reliability and dependability were his core values, whatever the weather,” she said.
She said her late husband was blessed with the unique abilities to not only survive but thrive in extreme environments and circumstances, performing complex tasks and caring for others calmly under pressure."
Amy said she visited the site where her husband died yesterday and spoke with those who were there on the night.
“Yesterday I was able to see the search site and speak to some of those who had been involved in his rescue and recovery.
“It grew a new depth to my gratitude for the courageous crews who had continued to search for my husband under absolutely atrocious conditions and threats to their own safety.
”It was palpable that they had been searching for one of their own, and they devoted themselves to that impossible task with the fervour one does for their own family.“
She said she was deeply grateful to Urban Search and Rescue, the NZ Police and all the fire and emergency crews involved, but especially to Dave’s brigade, who had been so deeply affected by the tragedy.
In her first statement since her husband’s death, she said she wanted to publicly thank friends who had immediately come to her family’s aid and supported them, “caring for us emotionally and practically and wrapping us in love through this horrendous time.
”You give me the strength to continue to be the mum I need to be, to help Dave’s beautiful children thrive despite this pain, and to be the legacy that he would be most proud of.”
Meanwhile, the woman whose house was destroyed made a heartfelt post on social media this morning, saying she had been wrestling with her emotions since the disaster, and she knows she is lucky to be alive.
She said she was overwhelmed by the week’s events.
“I have also been processing the fact that someone lost their life in the same incident. And that another is still in critical condition.
“I am so traumatised that I am not thinking straight and definitely not articulating everything I am thinking and feeling. But I am trying.
“Honestly I don’t even know what to say. It is so incredibly horrible. This man had a family that loved him and put his life on the line to help myself and others. Words can not do justice to that and I have been extremely upset.
“Truthfully, I think I’ve been blocking it in a jumble of emotions and still held out hope that he would be ok. Sadly that has not been the case.”
‘Can never repay a loss of life’: The Muriwai home owner’s full tribute
“This is a much longer post to write than my incoherent blurts and one I have been struggling with. They have really just been to let my friends know what is going on as I have been unable to communicate properly. I have been completely overwhelmed by the events this week. As I have said previously, I am lucky to be alive. I have also been processing the fact that someone lost their life in the same incident. And that another is still in critical condition. I am so traumatised that I am not thinking straight and definitely not articulating everything I am thinking and feeling. But I am trying.
Honestly I don’t even know what to say. It is so incredibly horrible. This man had a family that loved him and put his life on the line to help myself and others. Words can not do justice to that and I have been extremely upset. Truthfully, I think I’ve been blocking it in a jumble of emotions and still held out hope that he would be ok. Sadly that has not been the case.
Although Muriwai is a very small community, I never met Dave. From all accounts he was a truly lovely man. Much loved by all that knew him. And he had a beautiful smile. I can see that in his photos.
I haven’t seen a funding page for his family, but have been on the look out. I’ll post here as soon as I can and hope people may be able to support it as they have been able to for me.
Myself and others in the slip can never change what happened and can never repay a loss of life, but we are all so incredibly grateful in the spirit of humanity that pulled through for us that night.
Dave van Zwanenberg was a hero. He was my hero. R.I.P.”
