Ian Watts has clocked up 20 years of service with Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) and says the camaraderie was the nexus to his work in situations that cause devastation to land and its inhabitants.
The current operation team member was formally presented with his 20-year service accolade by Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell at a Nelson Tasman (CDEM) Long Service Awards ceremony on Thursday last week.
Ian’s civil defence role has been with the region’s specialist civil defence rescue team, known as New Zealand Response Team 2 (NZ-RT2).
During its inception in 2002, Ian was a veteran Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) volunteer and still serves with the organisation today.
His calibre caught the eye of the late Jim Burrows who was a local emergency management officer.
“It was suggested I should join the team, and I said, ‘no’, but then I got my arm twisted,” he says. “The team are really supportive even when you end up working out in crap weather.
“NZ-RT2 is the only resource the office can task directly, we become their eyes and ears on the ground and do a reconnaissance, report back, take photos, so that better-informed decisions can be made.”
Ian says the Christchurch earthquake aftermaths in 2010 and 2011, the Kaikōura earthquake aftermath in 2016 and the month-long Pigeon Valley Fire in 2019 were his infamous memories.
The 2010 quake aftermath saw Ian assisting in working through the phone calls that were made relating to collapsed structures and damaged homes.
“We got a big pile of residential addresses to go to and catch up with the occupier, check that there wasn’t anything outstanding, like medical supplies, and check the house,” he says.
"Back then, there were a lot of brick chimneys that we had to make safe so that it made it safer for people to live in the house rather than be evacuated.”
The 2011 quake aftermath saw Ian surveying the damaged structures at the clouted Red Zone alongside an engineer and assisting in providing occupiers of damaged homes with legal documents.
He was part of the team which operated an incident control point in Seddon and Ward after the Kaikōura quake, collecting intel and checking on residences in the two villages.
Liaising with Police to evacuate the entire Wakefield township and its nearby settlements and managing cordons for farmers to check on livestock during the Pigeon Valley Fire also burns in his memory.
Ian says he’ll remain ready to respond in the coming years.
Seven other members of the region’s NZ-RT2 team were also recognised at the ceremony including Ken Connor, who had also served two decades.
Aaron Mytton, Bryn Stephenson, Jason Monopoli, Jennifer Chaddock, Julian Malcolm and Karen Cargill were honoured for 10-year service.
Local controller Russell Ferens also received an award for 10 years of service at Lake Rotoiti and alternate group controller Jim Frater was honoured for his 40-year service.
Nelson Tasman CDEM is currently recruiting new Response Team members, email NZRT2-recruitment@ncc.govt.nz for further details.
