TO BE DISBANDED

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 325, 10 April 1928, Page 9

TO BE DISBANDED

ONE TREE HILL FIRE BRIGADE SPLENDID RECORD As the fire protection of the One Tree Hill district is shortly to be taken over by the City Fire Board, the One Tree Hill Volunteer Fire Brigade will be disbanded in a month’s time. TN accepting the offer of the City Fire Board to protect its district, tile One Tree Hill Road Board was influenced by several conditions. While recognising the splendid work done by the present volunteer brigade, the members of the board clearly saw that it would not be able to serve the district adequately, and that some other arrangement must be made. Many of the brigade members are no longer young, and leaving their beds in the small hours of a cold and wet winter morning has lost its glamour. Actuated by a strong sense of duty, the brigade has never failed to turn out when required, and the annual report, presented at the last meeting of the road board, showed that 31 calls had been received during the year. The maintenance of the brigade costs the board £250 a year, and the appointment of a permanent man, which the rapid growth of the district makes necessary, would add another £250. For an extra £SO (£550) the responsibility has been handed over to the City Fire Board, which has, In addition, to Install a new alarm system throughout the district. Members of the brigade will not be allowed to go their respective ways without receiving some recognition from those whom they have served so unselfishly for so many years. It is the road board’s intention to have gold medals struck and presented to the members of the brigade at a suitable function. It is 16 years since the brigade was first founded with Mr. P. 11. Hollingsworth, who still holds the position, as first captain. Other original members who are still active firefighters are Foreman .1. Gray, Secretary W. S. Watson, Fireman A. J. Lucas, W. H. Grant and A. White. The brigade’s task in its early days was a strenuous one. The equipment consisted of two heavy hand-reels and the area served Included the greater portion of Remuera as well as One Tree Hill. The former district, however, after four years, started a brigade of its own, joining the city a few years later. About seven years ago, after pulling the hand reel at a sharp run, from Green Lane to Penrose railway station, the members of the brigade decided on a change in their equipment, with the result that a light motor-engine was bought. Last year’s fires, which were more numerous than ever before, included the outbreak at the Harp of Erin Hotel, which was the biggest ever handled by the brigade. The fire station was originally located In a wooden building on the Congregational Church property at the corner of Green Lane and the Great South Road, but was, in 1925, moved to the present brick Building a few doors nearer Manukau Road. It Is extraordinary that only one fireman lives in the One Tree Hill district. The rest, by a change of boundaries, though originally residents of One Tree Hill, now live outside its confines. Immensely and rightly proud are the fire-fighters of one record they hold. ' During the 16 years cf their activity, there has never beep an accident.