Cambridge Volunteer Fire Brigade
Cambridge’s Volunteer Fire Brigade members attended a record 508 calls over the past year – a significant jump from the 420 calls logged in the previous year.
Cambridge fire chief Dennis Hunt says the increase in callouts has prompted a search for more volunteers.
Fire Chief Dennis Hunt told The News the rise was seen across the board, but there had been a notable increase in the number of structural fires association with buildings, houses, sheds and the like, and in vegetation fires.
“We’re not alone in recording this sort of jump,” he said. “As towns grow in the region, so most of the fire stations are recording more callouts, and with the number of retirement villages growing, we are seeing an increased number of false alarms.”
A breakdown of the 2025 calls listed 125 for alarm activation, 104 for miscellaneous fires, 83 related to motor vehicles, 80 structural fires, 56 medical callouts, 33 vegetation fires, 13 weather-related calls, nine hazard incidents and five rescues.
The number of weather-related callouts was lower than normal.
“We’ve been lucky in that we haven’t experienced some of the bad weather conditions felt elsewhere. We didn’t have the super strong winds that bombarded some parts of the country or the extremely dry conditions… that hasn’t come here yet. Right now, there is a lot more green around this part of the country, which is why we are currently sitting at open season regarding fires, but people should check with the Fenz website before considering lighting fires outdoors.”
Cambridge Fire Brigade chief fire officer Dennis Hunt. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Hunt will soon mark his fourth year as Cambridge’s fire chief. He said annual callouts were at the late 300s to early 400s when he took on the role – and that was a far cry from the 150 to 180 annual callouts when he started as a firefighter 38 years ago.
The trending increase over the last couple of years has prompted him to launch a recruitment campaign this year. He hopes to grow the number of volunteers in Cambridge from its current 26 to nearer 30.
“Rather than adding pressure to the volunteers we do have now, I would like to see us bring a few more on board, somewhere between three and five,” he said.
Hunt said the number of calls, along with training nights, meetings, maintenance, community events and school visits placed a heavy burden on volunteers.
He said the upcoming recruitment campaign would include an open day at the station – plans are currently being nutted out around dates.
Cambridge Volunteer Fire Brigade’s water tanker, seen heading out recently, has had a busy time with vegetation fire callouts.
Meanwhile, Ōtorohanga’s Volunteer Fire Brigade also responded to a record number of callouts in 2025 – a total of 232.
“We probably had about 50 more last year compared to 2024 and it is the highest number we’ve ever had. Our last highest total was in 2023 when we had 208,” brigade chief Neville King told The News.
Although the highest proportion (47) of call-outs were initiated by road crashes, responding to fire alarms (43) and vegetation fires (41) formed the lion’s share.
“A lot of them were weather-related. We had quite a few fires back in March and we had a lot of calls out to Waikeria Prison – most were false alarms, but we still had to attend.”
An overhaul of the prison’s alarm system as part of major redevelopment work was behind many of the false alarms, but the issue now seems to be under control, King said.
Ōtorohanga fire chief Neville King and, right, Te Kūiti deputy chief Guy Whitaker
