Firefighters working alongside each other create strong bonds forged through heat, smoke, emergencies and service.
For Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade’s longest serving member, Graeme Baker, this is more true than ever.
The 58-year veteran said the highlight of his time has been camaraderie among members.
And when he says the brigade is like family, he is talking not only about fraternity and friendships, but his late father Percy, and older brother Maurice, who both served.
Graeme, 76, thinks his father got involved because someone asked him. He served for 30 years, and was chief from 1964 until he retired in 1971.
‘‘I know dad asked the late Alan McQuarters to join. I think that is how many got involved, someone asked them,’’ he said. ‘‘I also think that dad, like me, wanted to help others.’’
Maurice joined in 1964 and served about eight years, while Graeme joined in 1966, aged 18. He became deputy chief in 1999, a position he held until retiring in 2019.
Today, Graeme is part of the Operational Support team. The team provides support at fires, undertaking tasks such as traffic management, providing refreshments and rolling up hoses.
He said much had changed in the almost six decades he had served. The equipment had got better, there was more support offered to firefighters, the uniforms were lighter, health and safety requirements had increased, types of training offered was different and they attended less fires and more motor vehicle accidents and medical events.
‘‘When I started we were called to fires by the siren and a bell in our house that was activated by the custodians that lived in the house next to the fire station. The calls then moved to the siren and pagers. Today it’s still the siren, pagers and now phones,’’ Graeme said.
In those early days he thought they were busy with an average of 100 callouts a year. Today they average 400 plus.
One big fire that sticks in Graeme’s mind was in the river bed at Mt Somers and they were on the scene fighting that for a long time.
As the brigade celebrate its 150th this weekend, Baker has been recalling many memories. ‘‘We were on our way to the brigade family Christmas party in the domain one year. When we were called to the station. The fire was in the house next to the station, where one of our brigade members lived. Unfortunately despite our quick actions while the house was saved, Santa’s suit wasn’t,’’ Baker recalls.
Baker has been on the other side of the fire brigade’s service twice . ‘‘We were on holiday in Fiji when I got a call to say a neighbour had noticed the windows in our house steaming up. They called a friend of ours, who called my brother Ken. He in turn called the brigade.
‘‘They turned out to find our house flooded from a burst pipe. But in true family fashion the brigade not only dealt with it, but did things like lifted the carpet for us.’’
The other time was to the family business, Mont Bakers in March 1991. ‘‘I was laying carpet in Havelock St when my pager went off, as I was heading to the station I could see it was at our shop. It was a big fire. It took four to five hours to extinguish. It was a huge shock. It was unnerving fighting a fire at your own place,’’ Graeme said.
Graeme, a double Gold Star recipient, said he found it rewarding to be part of rescues at motor vehicle crashes and accidents. ‘‘Being able to assist people to get out of vehicles, and get the help they needed, was very satisfying,’’ he said.
Today Graeme is a member of Grey Watch, a group of volunteers who maintain, build and repair fire engines at the fire museum at Plains Railway. The Baker family is among a proud legacy of family involvement in the brigade. There have been at least two sets of brothers serve, and 12 sets of father and son. The Kenny family also had father Keith and sons Alistair and Phillip serve.
‘‘It’s not only the firefighter that serves, our families along with employers who allow their staff to respond when the pagers and siren goes off also pay a price for us helping the community,’’ he said.
