Assistance for Teams Attending Competitions

At its meeting of 13 February 2008, the FRFANZ Committee agreed to make available up to $5000 of its funds to sponsor teams wishing to attend the annual National Rural Fire Competition. The Committee has done this in recognition of the considerable benefits that ensue in skills with firefighters training for competitions, and from networking of firefighters from around the country. Travel and accommodation costs can impose a significant barrier to this, and it is hoped that FRFANZ's sponsorship will encourage and promote future participation of teams.

The method of selecting sponsored teams, and the level of subsidy, has yet to be finalised. Clearly, a Northland team should receive more that a Canterbury team in going to a competition hosted in the south. As New Zealand is covered by 13 Rural Fire Committees, several of which hold local fire competitions, it is likely that these committees will be asked to select a team  to represent their region, and this team will receive the sponsorship for that region. The selected team must be a FRFANZ member. Other teams from that region would still be able to attend, but would not be eligible to receive FRFANZ sponsorship.

If you have any views on this proposal, please contact a member of the FRFANZ Committee.   

2008 National Competitions

The 2008 competition will be held at the Blenheim A&P Showgrounds on Sat. 22 November. A map is available, and you can download the registration form. Note that substantial discounts have been arranged for the Bluebridge ferries, and early registration birds are rewarded.

2008 FRFANZ Competition Promo 7.06.08
Well done, team! Note: some  terrifying chopper accidents are also available on this site.

2007 National Competitions

The 2007National Rural Fire Competitions, hosted by the Wainuiomata Bushfire Force and Hutt City Council, were held on November 17 at Hutt Park, Seaview. The visitors found the blue skies and no wind hard to reconcile with the Capital's reputation for bad weather! 11 teams competed, 5 local with 4 from the South Island, and the run times were excellent. The runs were 2 Standard Wajax and 1 Replacement Length Event, with the aggregate (and National Champions)  being decided by the best Standard time plus the Replacement time. The only local team to impact on the visitors was the hosts #1 team that took 3rd in the Standard Event; the Short Hose Boys from DOC Whangarei  were consistently 3rd in the other events. The battle for the top places was largely a resumption of the Canterbury Competition (see below), but times were much faster, and the national championship switched between the winners and runners-up of last year's competition. There were two teams in the Ladies Grade, and the Bomberas of DOC Whangarei made it a clean sweep from the WBF Pussycats. Both Ladies teams were significantly faster than last year.

Maybe we should consider a kiddies event!

Prize presentation was held later that evening at the Fireman's Arms pub in nearby Petone, an appropriate venue full of fire memorabilia. The HCC PRFO Paul Nickalls presented the Wellington regional trophies - a clean sweep to the WBF #1 team who put in personal bests on the day. He also presented the trophies decided between the best South Island teams at the Nationals. NRFO Murray Dudfield presented the National trophies shown in the table below. Next morning, breakfast was held at the Wainuiomata Fire Station, and the out-of-towners were given a tour of the firebreaks between Waunuiomata and Lower Hutt in the new Canter rural fire trucks. They were impressed with the off-road performance and comfort. It was a great weekend for all.

 Next year: the venue will be in the South Island, hopefully Picton and hosted by Kenepuru RFF.