I JOINED THE FIRE BRIGADE AS A WAY OF CONTRIBUTING TO MY NEW COMMUNITY
Martinborough Fire Fighter Rob Brown is about to leave town and head to Rotorua to embark on a 12 week training course at the National Training Centre for Fire and Emergency, in order to become a permanent Fire Fighter. The career recruit course begins on the 25th of September 2017 and will give him the opportunity to do what he loves, on a daily basis.
Rob joined the Martinborough Fire Brigade as a volunteer when he moved to town two years ago. His reason for joining? - "from a sense of curiosity and as a way of contributing to my new community" says Rob. Since joining Rob has managed to help train multiple recruits, taken on the responsibility of Brigade representative, as well as canteen manager, is working to gain his Emergency response drivers licence and become a pump operator. All of these demonstrate just how passionate Rob is about becoming a Firefighter and serving the community.
ITS ABOUT COMMITMENT, HARD WORK AND LOTS OF TRAINING
Rob has also taken part in a number of fire fighting related competitions including the Combat Challenge and the Sky Tower Stair Challenge in Auckland City. The combat challenge is a 5 part physical event that incorporates both mental and physical strength. Rob competed in the Southern Regional Combat Challenge held in Alexandra and the National Challenge held on Wellingtons Waterfront- where he completed the course in just 2 minutes 34 seconds!
The Sky Tower Challenge took place on Saturday the 13th of May 2017 where all entrants ran up 1103 stairs (52 flights) BA (breathing apparatus) donned while wearing 25kg worth of fire fighting gear. In this event Rob came second in the group of six Fire Fighters from Martinborough with a time of 15 minutes 9 seconds.
MARTINBOROUGH FIRE FIGHTERS EMILY ABBOT, ROBERT BROWN, ZOE SINCLAIR, MEL COLEMAN & BRAD ALDRIDGE AT THE SKY TOWER CHALLENGE 2017
Rob does many things to keep himself up to all these tasks. Taking part in both Crossfit at Martinborough's Facing Giants Box (gym) and by doing his own training at Martinborough's fire station. We will be sad to see Rob go for 12 weeks but look forward to having him back as a fully functional permanent fire fighter.
Having achieved so much over the last two years Rob is excited about what the future holds, his message to anyone thinking of joining the fire service is: "Just come down and give it a go, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve, with the support of your local brigade"
Rob's very thankful for having a supportive employer over the last two years in Pain And Kershaw Martinborough. "There's not many employers who will let you go to calls, let alone keep paying you while you're gone." This has been an important part of supporting the local fire service and shows how community collaboration is the glue that binds these services together, making them viable and sustainable.
Good luck Rob we know you will do us proud! - Emily Abbot
ROB AND EMILY FUNDRAISING FOR THE SKY TOWER CHALLENGE, MAY 2017
Trish Higginson & Karina Hailwood
Creative Directors
Martinborough Village
Guest writer Emily Abbot
"Let us show you the magic of our region"
enquiries to karina@martinborough-village.co.nz
Copyright MV 2017
