As Ashburton firefighters prepared for their brigade’s 150th anniversary open day at the fire station on Saturday, the siren went.
It was about 9.45am, as they were getting ready to host hundreds at the site from 10am to 2pm.
But the Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade members did not need to worry. They had back-up crews on board, from Hanmer Springs and Rangiora.
Ashburton chief Alan Burgess said it worked well, as Ashburton firefighters were not the ones who had to jump in the station’s trucks and head to the call.
As it turned out, the callout was a false alarm, from a private fire alarm system at Hotel Ashburton.
There were no more callouts during the open day, as hundreds of members of the public milled through the fire station to view a number of appliances, both vintage and modern, and see a wide range of displays and activities.
Burgess said the weekend’s celebrations also included a gathering of past and present members at the Ashburton Fire Museum on Friday night, and a main function at the Ashburton MSA on Saturday night. The latter was attended by about 200, including past members from throughout New Zealand and as far away as Australia.
