The eight-seater VW Crafter takes over from a 20-year-old van that was no longer fit for purpose, especially as it wasn’t permitted to flash lights and sirens to get to an incident swiftly.
The 33-strong brigade started the project in 2019 — originally contemplating a ute — but only pressed ‘go’ over the past 12 months, during which it raised an amazing $226,000.
Senior station officer Paul Halsted says the vehicle cost about $100,000 but all the extras — including radios, lights and the advanced seating system — were expensive.
"The van is primarily a people mover with some extra equipment — given the nature of incidents we’re attending these days, it’s just taking more and more people to deal with them."
Halsted says the project wouldn’t have succeeded without the relentlessness of firefighter Phil Kavanagh, who led it.
Major community funders included Wakatipu Community Foundation, whose grants manager Euni Borrie also provided invaluable funding advice, Central Lakes Trust, Aotearoa Gaming Trust, Hugo Charitable Trust, Lotteries Community grants and local freemasons’ charity arm.
Many businesses also chipped in including Forsyth Barr, which put on a charity bowls tournament, along with local community associations and members of the community.
"The fact we managed to get those funds in little over 12 months is phenomenal," Halsted says. "I just can’t express my gratitude to the community more strongly."
The brigade’s also undertaking two more stages.
The first is modifying its garage to accommodate the van, or else putting in a carport — to be offset by selling off its former van.
The other stage is getting some battery-powered equipment, which will be useful for brigade members flying by chopper from the nearby airport to incidents in remote areas.
