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CLICK HERE FOR BRIGADE SOCIAL DAY FEB 08 PHOTOS

Chainsaw Maintenance and Operating Course - April 2008

"Burning down the house". July 2007 - A house kindly donated by the Selwyn District Council that was due for demolishment is used for some real "hands on" training.

The Senior Citizens Dinners have been a feature on The Rolleston brigades social calendar twice yearly for over 15 years. It started as a way for the brigade to say thanks to the "Senior Citizens" of Rolleston for all the work they had done in the township over the years and as a way of allowing them to socialise with each other, as there weren't a lot of clubs or activities in Rolleston for them at the time.

Over the years, the firemen and their wives have assisted in preparing the meal, more recently joined by our local police.

The numbers of the dinners have increased steadily to about 60 as family and friends join the ranks of "Senior Citizens" - sadly some of our original "oldies" have passed away. The menu has a seasonal theme - hot soup, roast and veggies in the winter and salad and cold cuts in the summer.

The brigade thoroughly enjoys hosting these events for our residents, family and friends, and hope it will continue until well after our current firemen themselves become "Senior Citizens" themselves.

Senior Firefighter's Matt Ohs, Quentin Inkersell and Terry Sowerby sample some leftover pavlova from the Senior Citizens dinner.

"House Burn" Excercise - October 2006. 

Attended by Rolleston, Burnham, Dunsandel & Leeston

These houses donated by occupants wishing to clear their land are 

invaluable training for "the real thing".

Senior Firefighter Glen Manning shows other crews our latest purchase.

A state of the art "Thermal Imaging Camera". Fundraised for by the brigade this

fantastic tool cost $28,000. It is extremely useful for searching house fires for

patients, finding hot spots in walls, locating people thrown from motor vehicle accidents,

hot spots in scrub fires, liquid levels in tanks, the list is endless!

The Perfect Station!!

"Turfer" Winch Drills

Monsoon Bucket Filling Demonstration - Wigram Airshow 2001

       

Fatal Car vs Truck 23/01/2001

   

Van vs Car; involving trailer tank containing 1800 litres diesel. One person extricated - 31/01/2001

CPR Training - May 2000

   

CAFS Training September 2000

   

Car Fire - May 2001

   

House Burn / Structure Fire Fighting Training Day July 2001

   

Playcentre visit. The kids love the Big Red Trucks!!

     

   

And then there is the "Santa" role to fill at all the local schools / kindergartens

Crown Warehouse Fire. December 2001. Fire destroyed a major warehouse and tied up over 10 appliances as well as NZFS executives for hours. Media and Fire Safety releases report sprinklers definately would have saved this building.

       

Motor Vehicle Accident involving four vehicles just outside Rolleston. January 2001. 2 people heavily trapped. Extricated with hydraulic jaws of life.

Another large Warehouse fire in December 2001. Inwood Trucking Yard as well as several smaller businesses in shared office block. Fire destroyed large office block. Once again this tied up a multitude of appliances, as well as tankers due to water supply shortage.

         

   

Five of Rolleston's finest. Firefighter Strachan dowses a hedgeline with foam, Senior Firefighter Lilley (webmaster) after a large grass/scrub fire, Firefighter Henderson dampens down an area of grass, Chief Fire Officer Glenn Cockburn assists to extinguish a hangi in a prohibited fire season & Senior Firefighter Bidwell at work on the pump.

Several members are actively involved in motorsport rescue. This is separate to the role of the New Zealand Fire Service. Fundraising has acquired us specialist gear to help with this role, including telescopic rams and an independant hydraulic pump.

     

Large vegetation fire in Prebbleton in February 2002. Incident involved over 10 appliances + water tankers.

All three emergency services work together at a variety of incidents. This one was a minor motor vehicle accident in January 2002.

       

Drill Evening September 2002. First photo - SFF Bidwell backs up FF McCallum during a fuel fire drill. Second photo - FF Ohs dampens the remainder of a car fire drill. Third photo - FF McCallum and FF Henderson discuss the best method to attack the next drill.

   

Vegetation Fire in West Melton; SFF Donaldson backed up by FF Ohs attack the fire, whilst three officers look on - this is quite a normal practise!

           

Large Hay Barn fire near Lincoln - suspected arson

     

Sleepout / Garage after being struck by fire. Started in long dry grass at the rear of the structure. A house 2 metres away from the garage was protected by firefighters and untouched

     

"Intense training". Rolleston Fire Fighters train vigorously - here they are in training for an up and coming annual volleyball match with the Canterbury Sun Club

     

Large vegetation Fire - Leggets Road, Paparoa - the Rolleston crew in action

     

Always got time for a photo - the workers - SO Cam "Clarence" Kenyon, FF Rob "Shrek" Henderson and SFF Greg "Rolty" Rolton

 

Rolleston 42-7 (middle bay) on standby at Burnham Military Camp Fire Station. When there are large incidents tying up multiple trucks, the control room will shift trucks around stations to provide adequate cover in the district. This may involve bringing appliances in from over 100km away if necessary.

Kitchen Fire, Burnham - started out as an oven fire

     

   

First Aid course held for whole brigade March 03

     

   

House Fire; Jones Road, Rolleston - March 2003. Started by unattended pot of fat on stove. Attended by Rolleston & Burnham Brigades.

        

Vegetation Fires. These incidents were all attended in the months of January & February 2004. This was a particularly busy season for the Rolleston Volunteers, involving many vegetation fires, as you will note on our recent calls page.

Senior Firefighters Graham Petersen & Nigel Lilley set up a water point for appliances and tankers to fill whilst at yet another large vegetation fire January 2004. The portable pump pictured is used to suction water from a water race.

   

    

Motor Vehicle Accident, February 2004. Car vs Cattle Truck. 2 occupants trapped. The occupants were freed by Rolleston members using hydraulic tools. The cattle truck trailer had tipped over, creating two problems. On arrival, cattle were all over the road, and had to be marshalled into a nearby paddock, and secondly, there were still cattle trapped in the trailer. The remaining cattle were also freed using hydraulic tools and large solo saw. No cattle were injured / killed in this accident. As you can see from photos, motor vehicle accidents involving entrapment are quite busy scenes around the car, with everyone having an equally important role.

       

 

One hour after the car vs cattle truck incident, whilst Rollestons crew were still busy attending to the cattle, this motor vehicle accident happened 500 metres south on State Highway One - the same stretch of road. Utility vehicle vs Light Commercial Truck. Utility driver was trapped, and freed by Sockburn and Rolleston crews sustaining critical injuries. The passenger of the utility walked away, and the driver and passenger of the light commercial were thrown through the windscreen as the front of the truck folded in, possibly saving them from much more serious injuries.

Station Officer Graham Gallen and Firefighter Richard Hobbs survey and discuss the job well done. Both members are members of the Sockburn Crew, our career brigade neighbours, and one that we particularly enjoy working along side with.

A house fire attended in April 04. Job made difficult due to multiple ceiling cavities. Backed up by Lincoln & Burnham brigades.

   

July 04 - we were very fortunate to be gifted a house to burn down for training purposes. We also invited some fresh graduates from a new recruits course held in Christchurch. An excellent informative day had by all.

  

Rolleston Crews undertake a co-ordinated water attack and hot fire drill at Christchurch International Airport - October 2004

     

 

Rolleston and Burnham Brigades at a combined exercise - Tegel Feed Mill, Rolleston. Exercise entailed a fire in structure with persons reported missing. October 2004

Motor Vehicle Accident - December 04. Always busy scenes when all the emergency services start to arrive. In the second photo you can see air bags that have been discharged from the steering wheel and glove box

Another accident - December 04. Car vs car - head on. The most serious injury was a broken collar bone

Firefighter Bruce Moffatt has a crack in the decontamination shower