The New Zealand Fire Service plays a major role in providing an emergency response to New Zealand communities. Most of these communities depend on volunteers for their every day fire protection. Men and women from many walks of life are volunteer firefighters. Volunteers include the self-employed, mothers at home, shift workers, people looking for work, tradespeople and professionals. They are all people who care about their communities and want to be actively involved in them.
Many brigades receive only a few calls each year.
Even for busier brigades many calls occur outside normal working hours. All training is carried out at evenings and weekends. Time spent away from the job can range from half an hour for a false alarm to 4-5 hours in a rare major emergency. Most employers find considerable advantages in having people with Fire Service training on their staff - people who can fight fires, give first aid, perform CPR and keep a cool head in an emergency. Officer training also develops leadership and management skills and experience that can be useful in the workplace.