Tikokino Volunteer Fire Brigades’ Brendan Butler was presented with his double gold star for 50-years-service to Fire & Emergency NZ.
Brigade members past and present, Fire & Emergency management, family and friends gathered on Saturday night for the presentation.
Brendan joins the 1% of firefighters who get to 50-years and was double gold star recipient number 284 for the whole country.
Mayor Alex Walker thanked Brendan and his family for his incredible service.
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Four weeks of resurfacing work on SH2 at Norsewood begins today.
Waka Kotahi is advising motorists to plan ahead for STOP/GOs near the intersection with Edgeley Road between 6am and 6pm each day, excluding Sundays.
The agency says the works are weather dependent and may be postponed at short notice.
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Fire & Emergency NZ says fireworks were the cause of a significant vegetation fire on Te Mata Peak on Friday night.
Ten fire trucks battled the blaze, taking about two hours to bring it under control.
Fire & Emergency’s Gordy Foster said the fire is an important reminder for everybody to take care when setting off fireworks.
He said people should be aware of the conditions, as while things look green, it is drying out quickly, which increases the fire danger.
There were a number of fireworks related calls across the wider region over the weekend.
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Waipawa Butchery apprentice Rhys Tamanui was named the country’s top Apprentice Butcher last week.
Rhys won his place in the national final, held in Auckland, after earlier winning the Wellington regional final.
It was Rhys’s first ever competition.
