Twenty-three years after its formation, the Dunstan Volunteer Fire Brigade has a new home.
The rural fire brigade’s new station was officially opened by Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds at a ceremony in Alexandra on Saturday.
The $2.85 million facility, which is co-located next to the Alexandra Fire Brigade in Centennial Ave, has four truck bays, a dedicated personal protective equipment (PPE) gear room, specialised firefighting equipment washdown areas, laundry facilities, showers, toilets, office space, a kitchen and a training room — a far cry from the "tin shed" the volunteer brigade had been operating from.
The afternoon started with karakia from Kai Tahu kaumatua Darren Rewi, before Ms Edmonds took to the stage to bring her congratulations and declare the station open.
She then cut the ribbon with the aid of Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan, Fenz board member Barbara Clark and Mr Rewi.
"Our Fire and Emergency cannot provide the nationwide service it does without our volunteers — we thank you today and everyday for your service."
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times, Ms Edmonds said it was a "great day for the Dunstan fire community".
"You just walk around here and you can really see that the team are really proud of their location, they’re proud of their new building and it’s really warm which is great for them because I understand they have come from pretty much a tin shed to a fire station where the bay has carpet to keep the warmth in.
"I understand operationally that’s important for their fire trucks, so really proud of them," she said.
Dunstan Volunteer Fire Brigade controller Nigel Greaves said having a purpose-designed facility was "absolutely magic".
"We love it. We’ve only been here two weeks, so we’re still getting used to it, still getting used to what everything does — I think we’ve smashed it now," he said.
Compared with their old digs, the new station was "a palace" and in the two weeks the fire crews had been operating out of the facility, the biggest change was the change in temperature.
"The first thing the crews noticed in here was heat — like actually, you can get dressed and it’s not freezing cold, when we’d normally rock up to the old station and there was no heat in there, just an open shed. It did the job nicely, don’t get me wrong, it was provided by the council, but when you compare our new station to the old, it really is a palace — that’s the only way to describe it, it really is."
