15 October 2011
2011 Rural Firefighter Challenge—final day

Teams of volunteer firefighters battled out the final day of the rural fire challenge out in southerly conditions without a word of complaint. The multi-agency event came to a successful close with 35 crews involving 139 firefighters, from across New Zealand (from South Westland to Northland), completing the challenge over the three days.

This number was more than doubled by support personnel working behind the scenes. These support staff ranged from incident controllers to catering crews; ensuring the smooth running of the event as well as providing training opportunities for emergency event co-ordination and organisation.

“There are infinite benefits to a large event of this type,” says Allan Grigg, Deputy Chairman of the Canterbury West Coast Regional Rural Fire Committee.

“Having recently moved into the region, this is my first experience with the challenge and its been fantastic to see so many disparate agencies work so closely together for such a long period of time and under difficult conditions.”

ENDS

Background info
The Challenge was organised by the Canterbury West Coast Regional Rural Fire Committee and brought together over 20 agencies from across New Zealand.
Tasks: There were 12 tasks ranging from abseiling and first aid to kayaking, semaphore and paintballing.
The winning teams over the three days:
Thursday: DOC South Marlborough
Friday: DOC Waimakariri
Saturday: High Country Fellas
For more information: Visit www.ruralfire.org.nz

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