Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade members celebrate 150 years this weekend.
Chief Alan Burgess said as members past and present gathered for events, including an open day on Saturday, they would be reflecting on a history of ‘‘challenges and conquests’’.
‘‘We stand true to our motto developed by our 57-year veteran Walter Dolman in the early days – Ever ready, ever steady, striving with a will to save,” Burgess said.
Dolman served in the brigade until he died in 1933.
The brigade was formed in 1874, with about 25 iron buckets, one hand saw, one crosscut saw, two fire hooks with 12-footlong handles, one grapnel chain, three 10-foot ladders and one alarm bell. It cost just 36 pounds.
This compares more than $2 million today – three modern Iveco appliances, four-wheel-drive and other support vehicles, and equipment including vehicle extraction cutting gear.
Major blazes in recent years include the Canterbury Flour Mill fire on West St in 2011, Seales Winslow farm feed processing plant fire in 2017 where three firefighters were injured, and a Korean fishing vessel fire in Timaru in 2018.
Members responded to the Christchurch earthquakes, and to the 2021 flood that closed the town’s State Highway 1 bridge.
The nature of the brigade’s call outs has changed over the years, from mostly fires, to include car crashes, medical events and natural disasters.
Burgess said the anniversary events would acknowledge the many who had made the brigade’s service possible. They included not only firefighters past and present, but families and employers.
