New path for rural fire's top man

It's the end of an era for our rural fire manager Roger Nelson - but the start of a new one!

From July 1, new legislation means rural fire is no longer the responsibility of local authorities. That means Roger's role with us ends, but thankfully he'll still be looking afer the community as part of the newly formed Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ).

FENZ will be an amalgamation of the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, all 12 rural fire districts and 26 territorial authority rural fire authorities.

Roger will head the local division of FENZ's rural  fire department, and will move across the road to the Fire Service building on the corner of Rifle Range Road and Lake Terrace.

It's a really exciting development that I think will benefit the rural fire sector and the Taupo District as a whole, he said. The new legislation means there will be better training available to our volunteers, better resourcing, and a focus on health and safety.

Roger has been with the council for nearly a decade, so for him it will be quite a change.

I think it's going to be awesome. There are going to be some huge opportunities going into a larger entity.

Although he would miss the team at the council, he was looking forward to new challenges.

The best part for the community is that they should not really notice any change - they will receive the same high level of service from the rural fire team. Behind the scenes, everything will be a lot more efficient and stream-lined, which is great.

The changes to the rural  fire service will not affect the way emergency services respond - in the case of an emergency or if you see suspicious fire, dial 111.