The brigade is excited to host its inaugural community open day on Saturday 29 July at its station at 17 Matai Street Taupō from 11am to 2pm. Entry is free and everyone is welcome.

This is a great opportunity to go and learn about what the brigade does. The event will be a fun day out for the kids, with a whole range of activities for all ages, as well as a heavy focus on fire safety and a chance to talk to the firefighters about their experiences with the brigade.

There will be opportunities to get first-hand experience in the trucks and see for yourself how the different appliances operate at a scene. Alongside this will be a sausage sizzle and refreshments, a Virtual Reality experience of what it’s like to be in a smoke-filled house, a bouncy castle for the young ones and more!

The volunteer brigade houses three teams of firefighters and support roles, which it is looking to recruit for.

Urban firefighters respond to a range of incidents and are often the first to the scene of an emergency. Incident types include medical emergencies, fires, motor vehicle accidents and weather-related events.

Rural firefighters respond to rural fires such as forestry, rural farms and buildings.

The Operational Support team respond to emergencies to support the operations of the urban and rural firefighters and often other first responders such as police and St John ambulance.

Brigade support volunteers are key to the brigade’s success. They complete administrative tasks and other duties that keep the brigade running smoothly.

Taupō is fortunate to have paid professional firefighters, situated at the Lake Terrace fire station. The volunteer brigade, situated in Matai Street, is thrilled to be able to support and partner with them in emergency situations.

Lake Taupō Volunteer Fire Brigade station controller Tony Nield says the amalgamation of the brigade’s three volunteer crews make it a perfect opportunity to showcase what they do.

“We are really excited to be hosting our first community open day and welcoming the community onto our station. It’s been three years since we moved the volunteers up to 17 Matai Street.

“We are looking forward to demonstrate what we do as volunteer firefighters and welcome the community to our station,” Tony says.

“It gives the community a true understanding of what we do, not only as a fire brigade but also as an emergency service. What other organisation offers the opportunity to get out and do emergency service work - not many!”

The brigade has had multiple sponsorships from companies around town including Sign On, Lake FM, Printing.com Taupō and More FM.

“We are very lucky to have such a supportive community of businesses and we thank them all very much for their support,” Tony says.

The open day will run from 11 am to 2 pm at the Lake Taupō Volunteers Fire Station on Matai Street this Saturday, 29th July. Everyone is welcome.

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