Sumner was buzzing last week as New Zealand's newest fire station opened its doors.
The Sumner Fire Station was badly damaged during the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. It's now been completely replaced as part of a $78 million redevelopment of stations in greater Christchurch, by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Daryl Sayer says they took possession of the $3 million facility last week.
"Everyone's been so excited. The crew's been really keen to get in and we've are now into our second week of being in the station and everyone's smiling, they're really loving being here".
The purpose-built station will house a fire truck and 4WD support vehicle.
Sayer has welcomed the upgrades, and points out the area the brigade covers is a lot more diverse than the metropolitan zones.
"We do have a lot more hill areas, of course, we've got walking tracks and people like to head out here in the weekend and go for a walk or bike or whatever. And a lot of our calls are actually retrieving people from those tracks".
The last two rebuilds as part of Fenz' redevelopment programme are currently under way, for volunteer stations in Kaiapoi and Kaikoura.
- By Geoff Sloan
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
