When Dean Millar’s washing machine caught fire at his new Tapawera residence in 1999, he thanked the brigade’s response with beer, and a position was swiftly sparked.
A quarter-century later, Dean Millar is Tapawera Volunteer Fire Brigade’s chief fire officer and has lauded the camaraderie and public support during his 25-year service to the town of 380.
“The guys and girls that we work with, everyone gets along, and we’ve got married couples, mother and sons, and my partner [Emma Bannister] is also in the fire brigade, so it’s all a big family,” he says.
“There’s a heap of time given up by all these people and no one wants to be paid for it, they’re happy to do it just to help out.
“What I also like about the fire brigade is everyone has got employers that let them have time to respond to emergencies, and you can’t do it in a small community without having those people around.”
Dean had moved to Tapawera for a lifestyle change from Nelson, where he worked as a postie, and is a current Clayton Hops employee based at its Blue Rock Hop Farm. He was put through his firefighting paces to take on station officer and deputy chief roles, before progressing to chief fire officer, which he’s held for 13 years following the death of its former chief, Tony Norris, who was just 44.
“It was hard to start with after Tony died because [a new chief] was something that no one thought would happen for a long time,” he says.
“But you get a lot of guidance, we’ve got some good guys in Nelson that look after the local brigades, and we’ve only got to ring them any time of the day or night and they’ve got all the information we can use.”
Dean says rural house fires stuck in his memory, since most of its occupants were people known to brigade members.
“It’s devastating to see people lose their whole house… because it could be half an hour before we can get there, and half-hour fires destroy a house,” he says.
“That’s the worst part that sticks out in the job.”
The 54-year-old plans to continue in the role, but would be stoked to pass on the torch to one of Tapawera brigade’s 18 members.
