Firefighter dress-ups were popular with children at the Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade open day on Saturday, but for Michaela and Charlotte McGinnis the uniforms had extra significance.
Their mother Melanie Hall is a crew boss with the Dunstan Rural Fire Force and they said it was ''pretty cool'' to have their mum be a role model for young girls and women who might also be considering becoming a firefighter.
Miss Hall said she had enjoyed her 13 years as a rural firefighter, finding it rewarding to ''help out and make a difference''.
She loved the fitness and camaraderie that came with being a volunteer firefighter.
''They're a great bunch to work with. It's lots of hard work and training, but there's lots of fun and laughter that goes with it.''
The open day was held to mark the July 1 merger of New Zealand's urban, rural, paid and volunteer fire brigades into Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz). Miss Hall and other firefighters said nothing would change for them or the public. Firefighters would attend callouts as usual and people should still phone 111 in an emergency.
Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade deputy chief fire officer Mark Hutton said the merger was essentially at management level to streamline things such as funding and infrastructure.
The Alexandra fire brigade has two officers who serve for both the Alexandra urban brigade and the Dunstan Rural Fire Force - Mr Hutton and Central Otago deputy principal rural fire officer Pete Scarlet.
Both said the merger was a positive thing for the fire service, and said the everyday work ''done at the coal face'' would continue.
About 300 people attended the Alexandra open day, which included police and ambulance personnel. Almost 100 people attended a Cromwell Volunteer Fire Brigade open day.
