Earlier this year, the brigade raised concerns the St John-controlled emergency call centre was withholding calls from the brigade’s first response unit.
Brigade Chief Fire Officer Howard Williams said that over the past decade the brigade fought to get more notifications so it could deliver aid faster than an ambulance based in Twizel, about 20 minutes away, or Kurow, about 30 minutes away.
"It depends on how St John is feeling at the time. You think it’s going straight and all of a sudden it changes. They’re absolutely shocking."
He believed the reason for the 10 years of mixed messages to his unit and to the community lay in bureaucracy.
But changes to the system were now coming.
Fire brigade chief Terry Walsh said a meeting held by St John and the New Zealand Fire Service on September 5 in Omarama made progress, but would not say what was discussed.
"It was an extremely positive meeting and we’re just waiting on the outcomes."
St John was also not revealing anything about the meeting, only stating the meeting was "good" and they were looking at options together for "a positive way forward".
