Across three generations, the Clausen family have given more than 160 years to the Leeston Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Now Grant has become the second in his family to clock up 50 years of service, behind his brother Lloyd who has served for 55 years.
"When you’re young, you want to join the fire brigade. If you join early enough and you live long enough, and you stick at it, time just ticks by," Grant said.
"It doesn’t seem like 50 years at all to me."
The Clausen family’s involvement with the brigade began with Grant and Lloyd’s grandfather Frank who served 15 years, followed by their father Bertram with 43 years of service.
Grant joined the brigade in 1974 when he was 17, five years after Lloyd had signed up as a 15-year-old. Grant said he was a bit jealous of his brother.
"Grandad (Frank) had been in and my father (Bertram) had been in and Lloyd had joined so I was quite keen.
"There was a little bit of jealousness so I was quite keen to have a go," Grant said.
"Big factory fires are quite impressive when you turn up. The honey factory here has caught fire a couple of times and that was quite interesting.
"We’ve been to a lot of the plantation fires and they’d be a number of days at each one."
Grant said fatal accidents were a difficult part of the job.
"Unfortunately, the things that stick in your mind are the fatal accidents we’ve been to. It’s sad for those families, but you do what you have to do and support the others around you."
Lloyd, who was chief of the brigade until 2020, said it can be difficult when you know the people involved.
"Your professional body comes on and you just go ahead and do your job as a professional person and then reflect on it afterwards.
"At the end of the day, if it’s a good save it’s gratifying," he said.
Grant also has a passion for competing in firefighting events. He has competed both locally and nationally in road crash rescue and waterways challenges. Most recently he was part of the Leeston team that competed at June’s national road crash rescue competition in Feilding.
Alongside their involvement in the fire brigade, both have been involved in the community committee, and the Ellesmere Historical Society.
"There are heaps of people in the community like Grant and I who join multiple organisations and that’s the heart of your community," Lloyd said.
During the time the brothers have been in part of the brigade, Leeston’s population has grown from about 600 to almost 3000 people.
"The number of calls we’re getting is about four or five times the amount when I started," Grant said.
"There was a time when we both used to deliver newspapers and then we worked in the grocery . . . and you used to know everybody in the town, that’s totally different now."
Grant, who was a saddler for about 40 years, is now preparing to relocate the house where the family’s saddlery was originally based to the Selwyn Heritage Centre. The saddlery business itself had previously moved to High St in Leeston.
"We are going to rebuild the saddlery and I’ll be able to put the tools and things grandad used in that building back into it again."
Lloyd, a former electrician, is now a safety officer for lines company Orion.
Leeston fire chief Matt Walker said Grant was humble and would not like the fuss of his celebration.
"Having lived in Leeston and the surrounding area all his life he is a very strong believer in the value of volunteering, and how important it is to help communities grow and thrive," he said.
