New state-of-the-art fire station for Redwood and Casebrook residents

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

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Today marks the official opening of Redwood’s new fire station, serving Redwood and Casebrook residents, and replacing the St Albans Station damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes.

The station was opened by Paul McGill, Fire and Emergency New Zealand National Urban Commander, at a ceremony held on site.

"It’s a privilege to be here today to help the Redwood Fire Brigade celebrate the opening of their modern, fit-for-purpose station and to acknowledge the hugely important role they play in their community," says Mr McGill.

"This new station is one of 12 being redeveloped as part of Fire and Emergency’s Christchurch Rebuild programme. The earthquakes damaged our station in St Albans beyond repair. Rather than rebuild on that site, we took the opportunity to consider where we should locate the new station to best meet the area’s future needs."

The new station has been built at a cost of about $5.5million (excluding the land purchase), and has been fully operational and "home" to its 16 firefighters since 1 May 2019. It provides them with modern facilities including two appliance bays, operational areas with decontamination facilities, living areas and sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, and up to date IT equipment.

"Since our establishment, Fire and Emergency has been committed to ensuring that that all our people have the right facilities, tools, technology and support to keep doing what they do best - to protect life and property," says Fire and Emergency Chair, Paul Swain, who also attended the opening.

"This new station is a great example of that commitment and will ensure we have a station capable of serving the people of Redwood and Casebrook for the next 50 years and beyond."

For Tony Phillips, Senior Station Officer at Redwood, the new station represents an important community hub, particularly in times of need.

"We now have state-of-the-art facilities that can provide a reliable and stable base for the community. The station has its own generator, capable of powering the whole station, and has been built to withstand a significant earthquake. It is the first station in the rebuild programme to feature solar hot water heating, one of the ways we are incorporating more environmentally sustainable features into our stations. The station can be completely self-sufficient if needed," says Mr Phillips.

"This means that if we do have a major weather event or natural disaster, people can use the station as a hub and we can continue to respond to incidents and support our community."

Today’s station opening was attended by local iwi representative Nuk Korako, Christchurch Central MP Dr Duncan Webb, Christchurch City councillor for Harewood Aaron Keown, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand Chief Executive Rhys Jones along with members of the local brigade, neighbouring brigades and members of the community.

ENDS

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