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77-805: The New Zealand Fire Service Commission was the overseeing authority controlling the New Zealand Fire Service and the New Zealand National Rural Fire Authority . A Crown entity reporting to the Minister of Internal Affairs , the Commission was established by the New Zealand Fire Service Act 1975. The Commission was dissolved on 30 June 2017 when it was replaced by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board. The Commission

154-426: A "four-on four-off" schedule: two 10-hour day shifts, followed by two 14-hour night shifts, followed by four days off. Combination career and volunteer stations may have had a yellow watch, in which career staff work four 10-hour day shifts per calendar week, having one weekday, Saturday and Sunday off. Non-operational staff were "black watch", and work a regular 40-hour week. Career Firefighters responded to 70–80% of

231-573: A Women's Fire Auxiliary and recognition was given to the vital role women were to play in emergency response. At the 2006 Women in Fire Fighting Conference, Childs curated a reproduction of historic uniforms. In the post-war era, women remained unable to join fire services as paid firefighters, though there was a growth of local women's auxiliaries across Australia. In the 21st century, these women would be seen as providing operational support and contributing to community fire safety, but in

308-588: A helmet, dress uniform hat, operational overalls and dress uniform jacket was provided. The Australian War Memorial has photos of the NSWFB uniform. Dorothy Barrett, organiser and Chief of the NSW Women's Fire Auxiliary was photographed in 1946 in uniform No book has been written about the female chiefs of the Women's Fire Auxiliaries, though Trove has established a 1947 press cuttings book. Also in 1942, South Australia established

385-631: A major incident, and was ultimately responsible for any incident at which they are present even if they were not the Officer-in-Charge. Reporting to the Fire Region Commander were the Area Commanders and Assistant Area Commanders who manage the 24 areas contained within the regions. The areas were: Assistant Area Commanders were primarily responsible for managing the career districts, while the Area Commanders had overall responsibility for

462-638: A movement towards setting physical standards based on evidence of what is necessary. A female fire brigade was formed in 1912, with an initial recruitment of 60 women. Women were admitted to volunteer fire brigades in 1978, and as professionals in 1993. The oldest fire department and fire insurance company as well as the longest-serving firefighters in Canada originated in Nova Scotia . The terms "smoke-eaters" and "leather lungs" were used to describe firemen who had no need to come out for fresh air, and this success

539-597: A proposal was mooted in the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh to allow women into the fire services . In 2012, the Mumbai Fire Brigade inducted five women firefighters, making them the first in the history of the organisation. In 2013, the department inducted its second batch of women firefighters. As of 2003, the Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) – the second biggest fire department in

616-965: A standpipe and bar for accessing fire hydrants, and suction hoses for accessing non-reticulated water supplies; forcible entry tools such as Halligan bars , axes and sledgehammers; aluminium and wooden ladders; and a first aid kit with an automated external defibrillator . The two major variations on the Pump Tender were the Pump Aerial Tender and the Pump Rescue Tender. The Pump Aerial Tender had an additional aerial ladder and monitor for high-rise and aerial attacks. The Pump Rescue Tender, in addition to firefighting equipment, carried extra equipment primarily for motor vehicle accidents and vehicle extrication . Typical equipment included hydraulic rescue tools (aka "The Jaws of Life"), vehicle stabilisation equipment, and winches. Most new pumping appliances for

693-453: A three- or four-digit number for identification; the first two digits specify the appliance's resident station (numbers may be repeated between areas), while the last one or two digits specify its function. An example being "Newlands 291" – 29 indicated the appliance is resident at Newlands fire station in Wellington, and 1 indicates its function is a pump. These conventions carried through to

770-452: A volunteer unit of the local Grampian Region Fire Brigade (GRFB) since the school's return from Wales in 1948. In 1972, the school accepted girls as pupils for the first time and from 1975 women were accepted into the voluntary firefighting unit. They were not initially allowed to be official members of the GRFB, but could operate only within the school. The turning point took place in 1976, when

847-628: The Auxiliary Fire Service , rising to 7,000 women in what was then the National Fire Service . Though trained in firefighting, women were not there for that purpose, but rather for such positions as driving and firewatching. Many received awards for heroism. In the modern era, some of the first women to participate in firefighting were based at Gordonstoun School near Elgin in Scotland . The school's staff and pupils had participated in

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924-557: The London Fire Brigade found that discouraging factors included the portrayal of firefighting in the media, a lack of information available to young girls and unrealistic ideas about the role. Other issues include shift patterns that are not suitable for mothers with young children. The Aboriginal Australians developed techniques for managing bushfires in the 60,000 years before the arrival of European settlers, with women being involved. Excluding these indigenous precursors,

1001-616: The NZ Police in many respects – a key one of those is that the three Communications Centres which co-ordinate the Fire Service response across NZ are colocated with their Police Equivalents in Auckland , Wellington and Christchurch . The radio network used by the Fire Service for its nationwide coverage was provided and supported by the police, although most urban areas provided for an exclusive Fire-only radio channel or channels. In rural areas,

1078-874: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU that a mandatory fitness test for those seeking to become firefighters in British Columbia unfairly discriminated against women. The test had been based on the physiology of male firefighters. The Court ruled that employers must show that any required workplace tests are necessary, and that there has been some effort to accommodate individuals. Female-focused camps to train young women in firefighting skills have been created by fire departments in Ottawa and London, Ontario , and have led to similar camps being established in

1155-540: The Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 1999 (in the case British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU ) that fire departments could not use restrictive fitness tests unless they could justify the need for them. Nevertheless, the percentage of women recruited by fire departments has been low. In the UK, women make up 5% of firefighters which is less than the percentage for police officers (29%), paramedics (38%) and military personnel (10%). A report by

1232-600: The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services permitted women to join and a appointed Priya Ravichandran as a Divisional Fire Officer, making her one of the first female fire officers in the country, and the first one to win the Anna Medal for Bravery. In the same service Meenakshi Vijayakumar has attended more than 400 incidents and in 2013 was awarded the President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry. In 2009,

1309-486: The 1960s, that the absence of women in contact sports was questioned. A "boys' club" culture existed in many fire departments, as the majority of the firefighters were white males. The firefighters were held to strict standards and were fined (or could even be fired) for spitting on the floor, being late to meetings, and being drunk on or off duty. However, many of the firefighters would support each other by not reporting another member when they were intoxicated. In 1999,

1386-523: The 1970s onwards. The first female firefighter in the United Kingdom ( Mary Joy Langdon ) was recruited in 1976, while the first in New Zealand (Anne Barry) joined in 1981. Many fire departments required recruits to pass tough fitness tests, which became an unofficial barrier to women joining. This led to court cases in a number of countries. In 1979 communications centre worker Anne Barry applied to join

1463-782: The Amazons during 1901–1905, no other jurisdictions took up the idea. Captain Minnie Webb went on to become a nurse serving in WWI. As was the case in Britain, women's fire auxiliaries were established in World War II in most jurisdictions in Australia to fill vacancies created when male firefighters enlisted in the war. Tasmania was ordering uniforms for the Women's Fire Auxiliary in January 1940. On 20 August 1941,

1540-996: The Auckland Volunteer Fire Brigade, and previously as the Auckland Fire Police Unit), had a membership of 60 and in the 2015 calendar year, members responded to more than 700 incidents. Knowing that upcoming legislative changes would repeal Section 33 of the Fire Service Act, NZFS ceased swearing new Fire Police Constables around 2011–2012 and instead converted its remaining Fire Police to Operational Support. Fire Police and Operational Support Units were exclusively staffed by volunteers and would be deployed at emergencies to provide non-firefighting functions, usually at larger-scale incidents. Typical duties included traffic and crowd control, scene cordons and lighting, first aid, salvage, communications and logistics, and even catering. A new colour scheme for helmets

1617-531: The Chief Executive did not have operational fire fighting experience, a separate National Commander was appointed to be the most senior operational fire fighter in the country. The National Commander may have taken control at a particularly serious incident, though this happened very rarely. The Chief Executive had a number of direct reports, though these were concerned with matters such as human resources and finance rather than operational matters. The country

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1694-681: The Defence Act. With these two agencies included, the NZFS and territorial local authority RFAs formed the bulk of the firefighting capability in New Zealand. There continues some contribution from Industry Fire Brigades (those run by commercial entities, for example forestry companies or Airport Authorities). The entire organisation reported to the Minister of Internal Affairs, by way of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission . The Commission

1771-475: The Fire Service criticizing numerous practices which contributed to the extremely low recruitment of women and racial minorities in the fire service. In particular, the Commission highlighted the system of long day and night shifts, which likely discouraged women with children from applying, and the practice of only allowing those with firefighting experience to move into the higher ranks, which meant that control staff were ineligible. In 2004, Dany Cotton became

1848-543: The Fire Service Act) or as Operational Support (OS) (carrying out a similar role to Fire Police, but instead acting under the delegated authority of a Chief Fire Officer under Section 28 of the Act). Volunteers engaged as Fire Police or Operational Support were classed as operational personnel but were not trained or medically cleared to wear breathing apparatus; they were ranked similarly to operational firefighters and issued with

1925-541: The Forest and Rural Fires Act. Fire Service brigades responded outside their Districts to deal with structure and rescue incidents, and usually undertook the initial suppression attack on wildland fires. Note: The New Zealand Department of Conservation was a RFA with responsibility for firefighting within recognised State areas, including National Parks, totalling about 30% of the country. The New Zealand Defence Force remains responsible for all Defence Areas as defined through

2002-660: The Kawasaki Fire Department rescue unit in 2016. All of these however are office staff and not engaged in actual firefighting Women firefighters have been serving in the Netherlands since at least 1939. In 2000, women accounted for 3.3% of professional firefighters. New Zealand has a high proportion of female firefighters; in 2021, 6% of career firefighters and 20% of volunteer firefighters were female. The Women in Fire and Emergency New Zealand (WFENZ) represents women in

2079-559: The NSWFB (now Fire and Rescue NSW) appointed its first female station officers. The first National Women in Firefighting Forum (thereafter known as WIFF) was held in 2005 at Sydney Airport with the theme of "Firing Up Women". It was opened with a keynote address by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward. A second conference was held in 2006 and included New Zealand female firefighters. The theme

2156-666: The NZ Fire Service as a career firefighter but her application was rejected on the grounds of gender. In 1981 she won her two year battle with the Fire Service Commission and was allowed to apply to join the New Zealand Fire Service as a career fire fighter. In 1982, Brenda Berkman won a lawsuit against the New York City Fire Department over its restrictive fitness test. She and 40 others then joined as its first female firefighters. A similar lawsuit led to

2233-602: The New England Girls School and the fire squad at The Armidale School in October 1923. Penrith Fire Museum has an archived collection on Captain Webb's career. Webb immigrated from England, and where he had seen the trained female fire responders that were common at all-female British boarding schools (see United Kingdom, below on this page). The Amazons was a one-off local initiative and the Webb children were recruited into both

2310-492: The New Zealand Fire Service attended. Volunteer firefighters had diverse backgrounds; around 14 percent were women , compared to just 2.8 percent in the career ranks. Volunteers were on-call; when an emergency call came through, firefighters were alerted through pagers and in many small regional towns, a siren atop the fire station. The minimum age to become a volunteer firefighter in the New Zealand Fire Service

2387-1410: The New Zealand Fire Service up until the transition to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, were manufactured by the Fraser Engineering Group in Lower Hutt , and based on Iveco , Scania and finally MAN chassis. Other manufacturers and chassis including Hino, Dennis, Mitsubishi/Fuso, International, Dodge, Bedford and Mack had been used in the past. There were four sizes of pumping appliances, named Type 1 through Type 5: Under NZFS (and subsequently within FENZ), Pump Tender identification numbers ends in 1, 2 or 3 (e.g. Onehunga 221, Manurewa 301, Hastings 561); Pump Aerial Tender identification numbers end in 4, 5 or 6 (e.g. Ellerslie 274, Auckland 205, Parnell 256); and Pump Rescue Tender (PRT) identification numbers end in 7 (e.g. Auckland 207, Papatoetoe 347, Christchurch 217) Career staff appliances may also carry more specialised items used for industrial rescue, light USAR and high-angle line rescue. In some areas, these are carried on separate Rescue or Emergency Tenders which do not have pumping capabilities. Additional specialist appliances are usually strategically located in each fire district. Typical appliances, their functions and identification numbers are as follows: The NZFS worked closely with

New Zealand Fire Service Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-532: The People"; also known as the NZFS ) was New Zealand 's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand . The NZFS was somewhat unusual, internationally, in that it had jurisdiction over the entire country with no division by region or city. It was the result of the New Zealand Fire Service Act (1975), which nationalised

2541-577: The Rescue 1122 emergency services as a firefighter in 2010. This made her the first female firefighter in Pakistan . In 2018, two Saudi women became the first certified female firefighters in Saudi Arabia meeting the [Saudi] National Fire Protection Association’s Professional Qualifications Standards. In Great Britain, Girton Ladies' College had an all-women's fire brigade from 1878 until 1932. In 1887 it

2618-493: The SSOs were strategically located to provide a more experienced command officer who is usually placed such that they are responded to most incidents of significance. The New Zealand Fire Service employed 1,713 professional career firefighters, 444 support staff and 80 communication centre staff. Each career fire station had a number of watches (shifts). Full-time career stations have four watches, red, brown, blue and green, rotating on

2695-883: The Tasmania Women's Fire Auxiliary were part of a parade (a march-past ) for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill . Queensland established a Women's Fire Auxiliary in October 1941. Their duties were to include "driving and trailing vehicles to fires, repairing hoses, operating chemical extinguishers, looking after canteens, and extinguishing incendiary bombs". The Forestry Department of Western Australia recruited an all-female fire crew in Sawyers Valley. Initially only employed on weekends, they became full-time. In addition to fire suppression they carried out fuel reduction burning, firebreak maintenance, fire spotting and upgrading bush phone lines. In 1942

2772-425: The U.S. Currently, only 3% of firefighters in Canada are women. Many female firefighters have reported facing resistance when they try to move up in rank, feeling the need to be overqualified in order to compensate for their gender and to prove that they were hired based on merit and not simply an attempt at diversification. Female firefighters also report experiencing bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment on

2849-607: The United States. As a slave in New York City , she joined a volunteer engine company. Young women in boarding houses in the United Kingdom were taught fire drills, including high ladder rescues. During World War II , women served in the wartime fire services of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand both in support and frontline roles. As a result of the second-wave feminism movement and equal employment opportunity legislation, official obstacles to women were removed from

2926-579: The WA Fire Auxiliary, made of up men and women, gave a demonstration of their skills. In the same year (1942) the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW established the Women's Fire Auxiliary. Women served as volunteer firefighters in urban and rural locations across Australia and New Zealand. In New South Wales, recruitment took place in Wagga Wagga, Newcastle Wollongong and Broken Hill. A uniform, including

3003-400: The area as well as for the volunteer Chief Fire Officers of each volunteer fire districts within their areas. These were the officers who are ultimately entrusted – via the Fire Service Act – with the powers that are exercised at the scene of an incident to 'deal with' the emergency. These powers were far-reaching – they provide authority to commandeer, demolish or destroy whatever is required in

3080-544: The channel may have been shared between both services. Generally this was an acceptable arrangement, though when either the Police or the Fire Service are particularly busy in an area with shared radio services, this could cause the other service some grief. In contrast, the fact that police have ready and direct access to the Fire Communications Centre was occasionally of some value in terms of inter-agency liaison. At

3157-593: The course of their duties, given no more suitable options. Each Chief Fire Officer (CFO) had a Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) and a number of Senior Station Officers (SSOs) and Station Officers (SOs) reporting to them. The minimum number of firefighters required to man most appliances was four – an officer-in-charge, a driver/pump operator, and two firefighters – although many appliances were equipped to carry an extra one or two firefighters, operational support staff, or observers. An SSO may have run in place of an SO as required or at their own discretion. In career districts

New Zealand Fire Service Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-800: The end of the war. Women were again recruited during World War II , especially as drivers. This continued until 1955 when they had all been replaced by men. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), women were extensively used both in support roles and as frontline firefighters. Women continued to take up all roles in the 1990s. The first recorded female firefighter in Berlin was Tanja Grunwald, in April 1994. Female professional firefighters now number about 1,000 (2.3%), with approximately 80,000 volunteers (10%). The first documented female firefighters in Norway joined

3311-544: The fire service. Josephine Reynolds became the country's first female wholetime firefighter when she joined Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in the early 1980s, after a year of training. In 1996, Fleur Lombard became the first female firefighter to die in peacetime service in Britain. In 2002, the Equal Opportunities Commission submitted a seven-page submission to the Independent Review of

3388-492: The fire services during the 1980s. In 2011, 3.7% of the Norwegian firefighters were women. The Hong Kong Fire Services Department started recruiting women for control and ambulance staff in the 1980s; however, the first firewoman was not hired until 1994. As of 2003, there were 111 uniformed females, but only 8 were operational firefighters. In 2002 Harshini Kanhekar became the first women firefighter of India. In 2003,

3465-465: The first all-female firefighting crew was recruited in 1901 in Armidale, New South Wales . It was formed in response to a fire at Cunningham House in the same town. Known as The Amazons this volunteer crew complimented the all-male paid firefighting crew, and was the first example in Australia of male and female crews doing routine fire drills together using the same equipment. Station Officer Minnie Webb

3542-505: The first time. The drought of the same year led to a call for extra firefighters and prompted other brigades to allow women to join. Mary Joy Langdon joined the East Sussex Fire Brigade on August 21 as a retained firefighter and was described by the press as Britain's first female firefighter. She was the first woman to be an operational firefighter in Britain. In 1978, it was announced that women would be accepted into

3619-632: The first woman to be awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal . In 2011, Ann Millington became the first female chief fire officer , taking charge of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service . In 2016, Rebecca Bryant was appointed to lead the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service ; she was the first female CFO to be a former frontline firefighter, while Station Manager Sally Harper received the Queen's Fire Service Medal . In 2017, Dany Cotton became Commissioner of

3696-444: The incidents the NZFS attended and protected around 80% of the population. Career firefighters numbers were relatively stable with low turnover. The Fire Service usually recruited twice-yearly, and received up to 700 applications for just 48 positions on each intake, making competition high and job prospects poor compared to other industries. Initial training for career firefighters was done on an intensive 12-week residential course at

3773-401: The job. Françoise Mabille was the first french woman to be a volunteer at the Barentin (Normandy) fire department in 1976. She became a full-time firefighter in 1994, and was retired in 2011. In 2015, 3% of firefighters were women, with 6.4% of these women holding the title of fire officer. Volunteer female firefighters worked in Berlin and Breslau during World War I but ceased at

3850-481: The male and female brigades. The model was not adopted elsewhere in Australia. However, the Dubbo Dispatch and Independent Bulletin of 1905 reported that the Dubbo Brigades had attended in Dubbo with 'upwards of 70 Brigades' from across NSW, and an 'exhibition of hose and ladder...and life-saving' had been performed by the Amazon Ladies Brigade Unlike Britain, Australian jurisdictions did not establish voluntary female brigades during WWI, and despite great interest in

3927-402: The national training centre in Rotorua that covered not only traditional firefighting subjects but others required of a modern professional Fire and Rescue Service. Topics such as; urban search and rescue (USAR), motor vehicle extrication and hazardous materials. Career firefighters provided the NZFS personnel that staff the nations specialised USAR Response teams. Additional specialised training

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4004-440: The organisation and to national and international agencies. The organisation is also currently performing a study to identify areas to improve progression for female staff. However, in 2019, a report found that Fire & Emergency New Zealand , the national fire brigade, had a "bullying culture", and in particular had a high prevalence of misogynistic bullying. Shazia Parveen , who hails from Vehari District in Punjab, joined

4081-492: The overall percentage about 5%. However, while overall total percentages had not been exceeded between 2006 and 2015, overall percentages across all fire services had improved. For example, the Northern Territory had improved from 0% to 2%. The percentage of career female firefighters remain at or below 5% of Australian fire services agencies, despite the history and activism noted above. Controversy remains acute. Allegations of sexism and bullying remain. There has also been

4158-468: The post-war era they were often portrayed and respected as tea ladies and sandwich makers. The women who volunteered made an important contribution to fire preparedness and response. After the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 , official limits on women joining were removed. In 1985, Heather Barnes, Denise Butcher, Dawn Maynard and Allison Meenahan joined New South Wales Fire Brigade (NSWFB) as Australia's first paid career firefighters. In 1998,

4235-405: The same uniform, but were identified on the incident ground by their distinctive blue helmet colour, and PPE optimised for visibility and poor-weather operations. FP/OS personnel were either attached to an operational fire brigade, or established into standalone units in their own right. The largest established Volunteer Fire Brigade in New Zealand, Auckland Operational Support Unit (also known as

4312-454: The scale of a forest fire on Ben Aigan near Craigellachie on Speyside led the GRFB to seek volunteers from the local community to help fight the fire. Alongside personnel from local Royal Air Force bases, a group of trained women firefighters from Gordonstoun attended. The performance and endurance of this group over seven days and nights of firefighting led the GRFB to agree to allow women to take on official front-line firefighting roles for

4389-410: The scene of an incident, VHF and UHF simplex frequencies were generally used. These were usually common between NZFS, NRFA, DoC and NZDF firefighters and discrete from the police. Access to shared liaison channels was also provided, allowing for Ambulance, Police, Fire and other resources (for example aircraft that may be called upon to assist in firefighting) to co-ordinate. The New Zealand Fire Service

4466-412: The successor organisation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand. The basic appliance in service with NZFS was the Pump Tender, which is primarily equipped for fires. Typical equipment included a pump (normally driven off the appliance engine via a power take-off); a high pressure hose reel for small fires and initial attack; a supply of high-pressure and low-pressure hoses for larger fires; fire-fighting foam ;

4543-459: The various District-level brigades that had developed across the country. The New Zealand Fire Service was predominantly configured as an Urban Fire & Rescue Service. The Fire Service Act placed responsibility on the NZFS for firefighting in gazetted Urban Fire Districts, totalling about 3% of New Zealand's land area but covering 85% of the country's population. The remainder of the land was covered by Rural Fire Authorities (RFAs) that acted under

4620-399: The world – had 666 female firefighters, or 3.8% of the total. In 2009, as part of a recruitment drive, it was stated that there were 17,000 female fire service staff, though it is not clear how many of these were operational rather than support roles. In 2015, the TFD had 18,700 active firefighters. Only 1,200 (6.4% of the operational force) were women. The first woman was appointed to

4697-555: The year to 30 June 2013, the Fire Service attended 70,900 callouts. Of those, 7.7 percent were for structural fires , 23.3 percent were for non-structural fires, 32.8 percent for non-fire emergencies, and 36.2 percent were false alarms . In the same period, 38 people died in 34 fatal fires. Examples of non-fire emergencies the Fire Service attended include: The New Zealand Fire Service operated around 850 fire appliances, including conventional pumping appliances and specialist appliances, and 330 support vehicles. Fire appliances were given

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4774-708: Was "Same but Different". The first timeline of women in firefighting was created. A vote was unanimously recorded to establish a women in firefighting association run by and for female firefighters, and out of this vote Women and Firefighting Australasia (WAFA) was born. In 2007 the first Board of WAFA was established with Susan Courtney as its president. Prior to 2005 most research, including health, uniform and risk research assumed all cohorts were male, with Robyn Cooper's work in 1997 an exception. From 2005 onwards, some research has been done into roles and challenges for female firefighters in Australia. In 2006 Childs reported that less than 5% of any fire service in Australia

4851-432: Was 16, although those under 18 required parental consent. Initial training was done within the local volunteer fire brigade at their weekly training nights and culminated in a seven-day residential recruit course, normally held at the National Training Centre (NTC) in Rotorua or the Woolston Training Centre in Christchurch. Training included hose drills, ladder drills, portable pumps, and breathing apparatus use ( BA ), which

4928-421: Was attributed to male facial hair that was thought to act as a "watery sponge" that held fresh air. Since they lacked this facial hair, women were unable to earn these titles. In the late 1800s, many fire halls, including ones in Nova Scotia , united to compete in sports and physical challenges relating to fire fighting. However, it would not be until over one hundred years later, during the feminist movements of

5005-442: Was broken into five fire regions: Region 1 (Northland/Auckland), Region 2 (Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne), Region 3 (Lower North Island), Region 4 (South Island north of the Waitaki River ), and Region 5 (South Island south of the Waitaki River). Each region was in the charge of a Fire Region Commander. All FRCs report directly to the National Commander, and were promoted from the ranks of operational staff. A FRC could take control of

5082-427: Was carried out in BATB (Breathing Apparatus Training Building) and RFTB (Realistic Fire Training Building) simulators. The BATB is a gas-fired training facility and the RFTB is a live fire scenario. The NZFS also engaged volunteers in non-firefighting roles, to provide support in a non-firefighting capacity at emergency incidents. These were variously engaged as Fire Police (FP) (sworn as Constables under Section 33 of

5159-452: Was composed of five members appointed by the Governor-General . By law, at least one member must be experienced in fire engineering or a senior operational firefighting. At the time of dissolution, the members of the Commission were: The Commission members became members of the Board of Fire and Emergency New Zealand on 1 July 2017. New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service ( Māori : Whakaratonga Iwi , "Service to

5236-433: Was composed of five members, and the Minister was required by law to appoint at least one person who was either a fire engineer or had experience as a senior operational fire fighter. The New Zealand Fire Service Commission was also the National Rural Fire Authority. Beneath the Commission were the positions of Chief Executive and National Commander. At the time of dissolution both positions were filled by Paul McGill. Where

5313-428: Was first and foremost a firefighting service, as made obvious by the name. However, it was also increasingly called upon for other emergencies where firefighting skills and tools are helpful, including hazardous material incidents, motor vehicle accidents, natural disasters, and medical emergencies. This change in focus was reflected in the name-change effected during the transition to Fire and Emergency New Zealand . In

5390-408: Was in Ancient Rome. The Aboriginal Australians had been managing and responding to wildfires for thousands of years, with women being involved. Firefighting became more organized from the 18th century onwards, led with the rise of insurance companies and then with the rise of government fire services in the 19th century. In 1818, Molly Williams was recorded as being the first female firefighter in

5467-483: Was introduced in August 2013, and rolled out in late 2013. Previously, yellow helmets were issued to Firefighters and Station Officers, white helmets to Chief Fire Officers, Area Commanders and Assistant National Commanders, with markings being the only discerning features. The changes saw Station Officer helmets change to red (trainee firefighter helmets, which were red, changed to green), and Area Commander and Assistant National Commander helmets change to silver. The change

5544-467: Was made up of full-time paid female firefighters, and also reported a web survey under the title "Not just fitting in". Ainsworth et al (2013) argued that in 2006 indicated that out of 33,659 volunteer firefighters, 3,798 (11%) were women. In 2011, this number had increased to 5,466 (14%). In 2015 a report by Women in Firefighting Australasia found that no fire agency had succeeded in improving

5621-550: Was one of the key developers of the Coordinated Incident Management System which is now in widespread use throughout the NZ Emergency Services environment. This provides for a common set of terminology and procedures which lends itself to multi-agency incidents. Women in firefighting Many ancient civilizations had a form of organized firefighting. One of the earliest recorded fire services

5698-547: Was provided for these personnel, however all paid career firefighters were trained to a baseline USAR 'Responder' level. Career firefighters made up only 20 percent of the New Zealand Fire Service's firefighting manpower; the remaining 80 percent of firefighters were volunteers, who received no payment for their time or labour. The 8,300 volunteer firefighters belonged to the 360 volunteer fire brigades, mainly serving small towns, communities and outer suburbs which career stations did not cover, and responded to 20–30% of all incidents

5775-510: Was reported that women employed in a cigar factory in Liverpool had been formed into a fire brigade, and had effectively extinguished a fire at the factory. During World War I , women's brigades carried out firefighting and rescue in the South of England. During the 1920s, women firefighting teams were employed by private fire brigades. At the beginning of World War II , 5000 women were recruited for

5852-530: Was the first female Captain in Australia. The creation of the Amazon Ladies Fire Brigade and their operational and dress uniforms was inspired by Captain Webb of the paid firefighting brigade in Armidale. Captain J.T.A. Webb became captain in 1898. He held this position until his death on 17 May 1924. He formed the first women's fire brigade in the early 1900s and also instructed the all-female brigade at

5929-584: Was to make it easier to identify the command structure at a large-scale, multi-agency incident. The epaulette markings used by the New Zealand Fire Service were similar to those used by the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army , except for the use of impellers instead of pips. (OS: blue with two white stripes) (OS: blue with one white stripe) (OS: blue with two yellow stripes) (OS: blue with one yellow stripe) The New Zealand Fire Service

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