Members of the Kaiapoi community celebrated the opening of the town’s new Fire Station today.

Fire and Emergency’s National Commander Russell Wood officially opened the $8.08 million station, alongside members of the Kaiapoi Volunteer Fire Brigade, iwi, and community stakeholders, including Waimakariri District Mayor Dan Gordon and representatives of Police, Civil Defence and Coastguard.

The previous station, built in 1962, suffered significant earthquake damage in 2010 and 2011, with one wing becoming structurally unsound and unusable.

The remaining wing and appliance bays were impacted but remained operational.

The opening of the new Kaiapoi Fire Station marks the completion of Fire and Emergency’s Christchurch Rebuild programme.

Kaiapoi’s new station features three appliance bays, operational decontamination, storage and breathing apparatus filling facilities, operations, meeting, and training rooms, as well as a separate kitchen space and personal decontamination facilities. In addition, there is a four-bay resource garage and a motor vehicle extrication training area behind the station.

The Kaiapoi Volunteer Fire Brigade is a medical co-response brigade and attends an average of 250 incidents a year, from structure and vegetation fires to medical events, and motor vehicle accidents.

Dave Stackhouse said this new state-of-the-art station provided Kaiapoi’s volunteers with the space they need to train and respond to all types of emergencies.

“Not only does the brigade benefit from their new station, but it ensures that the community is provided with the best possible support. The earthquakes reinforced that our fire stations are more than just bricks and mortar,” he said.

“They support our volunteers to do what they do best – serve their community – and they will always answer the call.”