On Saturday, the brigade celebrated with a community open day, commissioning its new $55,000 Nissan Navara STX first-response unit, which arrived on Thursday, along with a new $30,000 defibrillator.
The vehicle and equipment were paid for by fundraising by the Omarama community, including an individual donation of $25,000 towards the vehicle and $27,000 from the Meridian Energy Waitaki community fund to buy the defibrillator.
A "black tie" evening featuring All Black great Brian Lochore raised another $12,000 for the vehicle, with fund-raising events and individual donations making up the rest.
The unit, run by the Omarama and Districts First Response Trust, received no government help for the project, yet the service provides first-response medical assistance not only for the local community but also New Zealand and international visitors travelling the state highways that intersect in the town.
That irritated trust patron Emmett Mitten, of Christchurch, who said the vehicle, equipment and operation all depended on money raised by Omarama.
Trust chairman and deputy chief fire officer Steve Reeves said the unit was set up after the brigade attended a bad crash in 1997 between a bus and a car.
"We wanted to do more than just basic first-aid with our limited fire brigade first-aid kit," he said.
Omarama became one of the four first-response units to be set up in Otago and was given a second-hand 1992 Toyota Hilux by the former Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, from its Manapouri project.
Since then, the vehicle has attended on average 40 call-outs a year to medical emergencies, crashes and other accidents.
However, Mr Reeves said, it was starting to cost a lot of money to keep on the road.
Now, the brigade has a new vehicle, defibrillator and six trained first-response officers.
