Tankers

The Fire Service has steered clear of providing tankers.  These are provided by the Council as part of the statutory role of supplying water supplies for firefighting.  In the Rolleston district, they are extremely important.  Tankers serve three main roles.
1 - At rural fires, they have the capability for mobile attacks and carry large quantities of water.
2 - At property fires, they provide back-up water supply to areas in which there is often a poor or no water source.
3 - Transport additional firefighters and equipment.

"Puddle Jumper"
The General Motor's Chevrolet four wheel drive "Puddle Jumper" was in use by the Fire Party when it became a fire brigade in 1969.  It is unsure when the Fire Party received this vehicle, some reports were that it arrived in 1952, but others report that it was in use in the mid 1950's.
"Puddle Jumpers" were built for the Army.  Springs County Council had used it as a roading tanker before giving it to Rolleston for use as a fire tanker.  The 800 gallon tank, donated by Skellerups', was transferred over one night at the Junction Service Station.  At that time a Villiers portable pump was in use.  In 1966, the Fire Party fitted the vehicle with a red light, a siren off a WW2 Tank, a flood light and a hose reel.  In 1967, the council repainted it red, fitted a Scammel pump from the Southbridge Volunteer Fire Brigade and altered the plumbing to make it more efficient.
John Galvin serviced the vehicle.  On one occasion, he had the rocker cover off adjusting a tappet, for which he said the gap was so wide the entire feeler gauge passed between it, when the tanker was urgently required for a fire call.  Despite John's protests, the tanker was taken with the cover still off.  On its return, the cab was covered in oil.
At another fire, the tanker was not running too well.  Graeme Wilson, who was assisting the brigade at the fire, checked the motor to find a spark plug completely missing.  Fortunately, his truck had the same plugs and the "Puddle Jumper" was soon running again.
The vehicle was often at the Ellesmere County Council workshops for repairs to the panel work after the tanker had been through a fence or ditch.  The worst accident occurred in the early 1970's when it was rolled into a ditch down Weedons Ross Road responding to a call.  At the time, Ron Philip was driving, Dick Roberts and Norm Gregg were on the back.  Dick ended up with the Scammel pump on top of him and Norm in the ditch.  Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, except for Ron's pride.
It is not clear whether the "Puddle Jumper" saw service again.  Conflicting reports say it was written off and others say it continued to serve until the new tanker was completed.

Bedford Tanker
This project was started when John Galvin bought an ex-petrol tanker for the brigade.  It was found to be underpowered for what they wanted.  The council provided a crew cab and chassis.  The 1000 gallon tank off the petrol tanker was fitted and lockers built by the brigade.  This work was undertaken at John Galvin's Service Station.  Noel Robinson is credited with doing a lot of the welding work on it.  John recalls that on several occasions he was closing up the garage and work was still flat out on the tanker.  He would have to return later to lock up.
In December 1975, the tanker was ready for use.  It was shown off at a public display to Council reps, Fire Chiefs and the Residents Association.  The tanker was a credit to all those who worked on it.  It had the comfort of an enclosed twin cab.  The Scammel pump had been replaced by a Rabbit pump capable of about 250 gallons per minute.
Not long after the tanker was completed, it was borrowed to extinguish a fire alongside the railway lines.  During this escapade, it was damaged going through a gateway, scratching the new paint work.  The Brigade was so enraged by this that legal action was considered.
This vehicle served the Brigade well.  Often the Brigade was accused by the council of driver abuse but the truck was getting old and it was, in reality, extremely well looked after.  One of the problems experienced with the tanker was that in very hot weather, the petrol would vaporise and the motor refused to start.  At a fire at the Burnham Golf Course in 1982, the motor had stalled and refused to start.  The green keeper towed the tanker with his tractor straight across a green, leaving deep tyre marks.  On the way home from a fire in 1987 it stopped.  Tony Woodward, in trying to get it going, singed his hair when pouring petrol down the carburettor.
An indication of what a sterling job was achieved by those who built the tanker is the lack of modifications that were made to it over the years.  The only major change was adaption so an Angus 1200 portable pump could be fitted to replace the Rabbit.  Rabbit pumps had a reputation for being temperamental and unreliable.  Another design change was to reposition the hose reel from under the locker to on top of the back locker in the 1980's
As new members tend to respond in the tanker most, firefighters attend their first fire in it.  Many a night was spent in the Bedford keeping an overnight watch on fires.
The last fire this tanker attended was the Worsley Spur Fire on 28 December 1988.  After 21 hours at the fire ground, driving up steep tracks on the Port Hills, the tanker was returning home, on the 29 December when it rolled on the corner of Hoon Hay Valley and Cashmere Roads.  The crew was Jacqui Stephens, driver Sff Glenn Richards and ff Graeme Poole.  No one was seriously hurt, Graeme complained of being hit in the chest by the vehicle jack.  The cause of the accident, although not officially confirmed, was a broken chassis.

1968 D Series Ford
With the Bedford written off, a replacement was now needed.  After some heated discussions with the Ellesmere County Council, Rolleston was offered Leeston's tanker which they had completed building six months earlier.  John Mehrtens had managed to have an old diesel tank donated by Caltex, transported from Wellington to Lyttelton by Pacifica Shipping and road transported from Lyttelton to Rolleston by Express Transport at no cost.  The Council tried to have the tank diverted to Leeston for them to use on a tanker they planned to build using the old Ford Rescue Tender the Council purchased from Christchurch Fire Service.  They did not count on the strong resistance from Rolleston.  Eventually, Rolleston received the cab and chassis from Leeston, but all the wiring had been ripped out or cut when the tanker had been gutted by Leeston for parts for their new tanker.  The vehicle had an open crew cab.  Before it had been purchased by the Ellesmere County Council, it had been owned by Mobil Oil Balclutha and operated as a petrol tanker.
Construction on the tanker started on 12 February 1989.  The donated Caltex tank was cut down to a 5000 litre tank, large locker built and extensive plumbing fitted to allow the use of hydroblender, a sprayboom, domestic and forestry deliveries.  The Angus 1200 pump was plumbed in but could quickly be removed for use as a portable pump.  After many Sunday working bees, the tanker was ready for use by the Brigade.  Henry and Gavin Brokenshire offered their time and expertise to the brigade.  Assisted by John Mehrtens, John Savin, Mike Tasker, Vince Bidwell, Glenn Cockburn, Gary Sheriff and Tony Woodward, the tanker was commissioned on 2nd September 1989 by the local Member of Parliament, Ruth Richardson.  She remarked on John Mehrtens ability to get materials and parts for its construction and that she was considering setting up a Department Of Begging, Borrowing and Stealing (Inland Revenue).
The tanker cost the brigade between $7000 and $8000. The Rolleston District Lions Club donated $2000 towards the cost. After considerable correspondence and discussion at Selwyn District Council meetings, they came up with $2000. Hundreds of voluntary man hours were involved in it's construction.
The tanker is fully equipped with enough equipment for two line crews: shovels, rakes, fire rakes, McLeod tools, polaskis, slashers and knapsack sprayers which were purchased from a Government stores auction. The tanker met the Rural Fire Authorities guideline for a rural appliance.
In 1993 the Angus was replaced by a Robin pump, similar to a Rabbit pump and about as reliable. To enable the Robin to be plumbed in, the hose reel had to be removed. Although the tanker was slow (top speed approx 70 km/h, some drivers claimed to get 80 km/h out of it) it still arrived within two minutes of the appliance to a fire in the Rolleston area. The crew complained about the cold in winter and the dust in summer. It proved to be a very versatile tanker.
It too suffered the fate similar to the Bedford of having it's paint work damaged soon after it was commissioned. This time by the County workshops. It too was a bit wide for some drivers to get it through gates and had the rear guards damaged on a couple of occasions.

Izusu  Tanker

September 1999 saw the loss of the D Series Ford to the council workshops. It had become un-roadworthy. Just after Christmas we recieved the new tanker. A JCR Isuzu with the complete back end of the old D Series Ford on the back. There is very little difference in the two trucks, as it still has all the same gear on it, however, it is faster, and a lot more comfortable. The back cab is enclosed - a blessing on frosty mornings.

Appliances

Commer Karrier "Carmichael"
After the disappointment of having a Burnham appliance sent to Leeston, Rolleston received its first appliance in May 1973.  The Commer Karrier had been built for the Auckland Fire Brigade in 1959, given fleet number 45.  It served in Auckland from March 1959 to March 1960 when it was transferred to Ellerslie.  In April 1964 it was moved to Mt Wellington where it served until 1970.  It then became the relief pump for Auckland Area until sold to the Lincoln County in February 1973.
It arrived at Rolleston in the end of May 1973.  The minimum crew size for responding the appliance was set at two.  Not much information has been kept about this appliance.  It served Rolleston until 4 July 1980.  It is not known what happened to it from there.  The log book records it was sent to Christchurch Headquarters for disposal.
Rolleston's next appliance was also a Commer Karrier "Carmichael". This appliance had a very low mirage and was in an exceptionally tidy condition.  It was built by Carmichael and Son, for the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1958, and given the fleet number 4. It was fitted with a Gwynne 38 litre per second low pressure pump and had a single low pressure hose reel.  To fit into the Lyttelton fire Station with a ladder on, the roof of the cab had to be altered to lower the ladder.  Lyttelton was served by this appliance until sent to Rolleston.
When it arrived at Rolleston, it was powered by a six cylinder Wolseley motor.  Although we had many calls, only the tanker (F2) was responded as all fires were rural and if the pump was responded, it was usually used as a base pump to fill the tanker.  This vehicle served Rolleston until 3 May 1982 when it went to Havelock in April 1989 it was purchased by Bill Lynn of the Prebbleton Fire Museum.

Commer F-27
This appliance was built for the Christchurch Fire Board in October 1968 by Chapman & Company.  It was fitted with a Gwynne high pressure pump and had two high pressure hose reels.  It was powered by a V8 308 Holden motor and known as F27.  When attending fires with firefighters from Christchurch, and in particular Sockburn, they would recall stories of fond memories of the F27.  One particular story involved the appliance being pulled up by a Traffic Officer down Blenhiem Road returning from a fire.  The Traffic Officer could see the need for fire engines racing to fires but felt that 8Omph was a bit excessive.  He had clocked the appliance responding to the call on radar.
F27 transferred to Rolleston on 3 May 1982.  It was a particularly good vehicle with a simply laid out pump and was very reliable.  It was also very fast and this was an advantage with so many open roads in our area, although the speeds reached by permanent firefighters would never be attempted by volunteers!!!.  A permanent firefighter who lives near Rolleston arrived at the station one day to find that Rolleston was short crewed.  He offered his services to drive to the call, a drive that all those on board remember for never before had they been in a fire appliance going sideways around corners.  The firefighter remarked that driving F27 was like riding a bike, you never forget how.
This appliance served Rolleston well until 12 February 1989.  It was a fire appliance with a lot of character.  F27 then saw service at Whataroa until the end of 1993 and last known location of it was when it was up for auction at Turners Plant Auction.

Hino 6/1
This was Rolleston's first new fire appliance, built by Mills Tui for the NZ Fire Service in 1989, fleet number 7. It was fitted with a 30 lt/s Darley HM500 pump, a single low pressure hose reel but had the advantage of having a 2000 litre first aid tank compared with the Commer's 900 litre tank.  The crew cab was smaller and, until the standard crew size was reduced to four, it was a bit cramped.
The appliance arrived at Rolleston on 3 February 1989 with 10Okms on the hubodometer.  After extensive driver pump operator training, the addition of two lockers fitted out , the appliance was commissioned on 12 February 1989.  It was not in commission when it attended its first fire, assisting Burnham at the West Melton Rifle Range at a grass fire on 11 February 1989.  As the tanker had only just arrived for construction, it was decided to respond the Hino as it had a larger water capacity, the first time Rolleston had a 42-2.  Rolleston was extremely proud of this appliance and it was well cared for until the arrival of our next new appliance on 12 September 1993.  The Hino is currently serving at Kirwee.

Mitsubishi 6/1
In September 1993, Rolleston took delivery of the Mitsubishi.  It has the same specifications as the Hino, a 30lt/s pump, low pressure hose reel and same locker outlay, but no power steering.  The lockers were transferred over to this appliance on its arrival and it has been fitted out so that each locker has specialised equipment.

Mitsubishi 6/1
September 2000. Brand new Mitsubishi 2000 appliance arrived. Chanegover was completed October the 1st. Very similar locker layout. This vehicle is CAFS (Compressed Air Foam System) equipped. This system uses the method of combining compressed air (through a compressor inbuilt) and foam with the water. It has excellent knockdown capabilities; especially on structure and car fires, and because of the air and foam uses a very considerable amount less water. Hose lines are now very light and easibly manouvered by a single person due to the amount of air in the hose. Another advantage is you can run up to ten times more lengths of hose without noticing any major water loss.

2005 Dennis Dagger Type 2 Appliance

Rolleston took delivery of a brand new 2005 Dennis Dagger in May 2005. This appliance is a custom built truck for the New Zealand Fire Service, one of only two currently in the country, the other being delivered to Levin. The Dennis is a marked improvement on the Mitsubishi, providing considerable more room, both in the cab and the lockers.

VAN

Rolleston has two vans. The newer Toyota is used for training courses, conferences, competitions etc, while the one with the lights on top is the operational van, transporting crews and equipment to and from emergencies.

Old van (replaced by new Toyota 2007)