Thames Volunteer Fire Brigade

16/10/2026

Meet Nathan

Rank and service time?
Station Officer (SO) – 25 years of service today!

Why did you join?
Both my father and grandfather are Life Members of the Winton Volunteer Fire Brigade, so it was only natural for me to follow in their footsteps. In 2009, I moved to Thames with my wife, Mary-Anne, and transferred from Winton to the Thames, where her family has also served for many years. Between our two families, we have close to 300 years of combined service.

First working callout?
Unfortunately, my first working callout was a fatal motor vehicle accident.

Favourite truck/appliance?
551. Having seen the changes over the years and heard the stories my grandfather told, I feel incredibly fortunate that we have access to some of the best firefighting equipment available today.

Fun fact about you?
During the summer months, you'll often find me putting my firefighting skills to good use as part of the track rescue crew at Huntly Speedway.

Admin's Note
Nathan has been involved in the Sky Tower Challenge for the past 15 years, both as a climber and as part of the finish-line support team.

Nathan has put years of hard work into our brigade and we are so thankful! He is a major asset to us. Heres to another 25 years!! We have our honours night tonight and you better believe we are very excited celebrate this major milestone.

Thankyou for the hard work and dedication Nathan, you are a major part of our brigade. You have an incredible amount of knowledge that you bring into your service that helps everyone and are a top bloke 🥰 the effort you put in does not go unnoticed.

🧑‍🚒 - KG

22/09/2026

We see you Crystal and Jayden 👀🔥👩🏼‍🚒👨🏻‍🚒

Want to be part of the action? Come down on Thursday night!

22/09/2026

🔥New Firefighters alert🔥

Last week 2 recruits left to go to the National Training Centre in Rotorua, and returned as fully fledged firefighters to help our community. How good?!

Firefighter Crystal Beach and Firefighter Jayden Marris spent a week testing themselves physically and mentally, and forming an amazing team with complete strangers who left at the end of the week as friends. They nailed their course and did us SO proud 😊

Crystal and Jayden (who is a member of Tapu brigade but trains with us and responds with us during work hours) also feature in this article written by RNZ, about the experience of going to the week long recruits course: https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/wellbeing/could-you-make-it-at-firefighter-boot-camp?fbclid=IwY2xjawUeuItwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5RW_CNJjPVDgL9AVk5RQ7ynDtxPk6jdOajluOW6e6iFKnyTZ4wPsFYQLp3MA_aem_wKdZcGuc5excRxfuIjQu4A

If you have ever thought about helping your community out and joining the team here at Thames Fire Brigade, come down on Thursday nights at 7.15 to see what we do - We would love to meet you!

19/09/2026

Auckland Provincial Fire Brigades Association Firefighter Combat Challenge yesterday in Rotorua 🔥

QFF Rendall, FF Paraha-Senior, FF Wiki and FF Donaldson smashed it out, we love to see it!

👩‍🚒 - KG

18/09/2026

🔥Thames! We need you! 🔥

We are changing things up a bit here.... We are actively recruiting with training commencing in February next year. This way we will have a crew of recruits training together, and going away on the recruits course together, and it makes training more consistent for our recruits.

What it will look like:

🔥Come along to our station if you are thinking about giving back to our community at 7.15pm on a Thursday night.
🔥 Meet the team and see what we do
🔥 Hopefully you will return the following Thursday..... and the following.....
🔥 Once you have observed what we do and expressed an interest in signing up, we help you complete the online application, you will have a full medical checkup (all paid for) and be police screened. (We accept applications from anyone who is over 18 years old, or anyone who is 16/17 years old with parental/guardian permission.)
🔥 This process can take a few weeks, and as soon as you are loaded in the FENZ system, we get you all kitted out in some flash uniform and the fun begins.
🔥 Once you have uniform, you will be able to respond with us on callouts in a limited capacity.
🔥 You will be specifically trained to be more than well prepared for your recruits course at either the National Training Centre in Rotorua, or the Mount Wellington Training Centre in mid/late 2027.

Benefits of joining the Thames Brigade:

- A great way to give back to the community and to keep fit
- We have a diverse mix of community members
- We have fun and look after each other
- We have amazing and supportive leadership
- We do some cool social events together and have plenty of laughs!
- Progression and development opportunities
- NCEA credits
- Be part of our brigade and community's rich history

Questions? Flick us a message ☺️

03/09/2026

Old girls getting some sunshine ☀️

23/08/2026

🔥Member Profile Monday 🔥

Meet Kaira!

Rank and Service length:
Qualified Firefighter (QFF), 6 years.

Why did you join the mighty Thames Fire Brigade?
"I wanted to do something for the community and help others."

First working callout:
An MVA (Motor Vehicle Accident) up the Kauaeranga Valley.

Favourite appliance/truck?
T557 - Shes old, but loved.

Fun fact about Kaira:
Kaira has climbed Skytower 3 times (all 5ft of her!).

Admin note - Kaira is also super energetic and brings all the fun to trainings and social events, and yet is super professional on the job. She has just come back from maternity leave and we are so glad she is back on the trucks with us!
Some Hauraki Plains College: What's happening at HPC staff and students may recognise her as she is currently on staff there (while balancing being a Mum and studying )

20/08/2026

Throwback Thursday but its just a picture from our social function last month that I forgot to tell you all about

We went to Thai for dinner and it was fabulous as usual - no surprises there, 10/10.

Then we came back to station to play a game called Jingo! (Basically just musical bingo?). 10/10 as well.

Getting together is a great way to destress, spend time together and build connections (which helps us work together on the job too). Our volunteers put alot of their time into training and calls, and their families make sacrifices for this too so these social gatherings are very important!

👩‍🚒 - KG

18/08/2026

Thames! Have we done you proud this year? The United Fire Brigades Association is asking for nominations from communities who have seen, heard and experienced the cool stuff brigades all across the country do on the daily.
If you think that the Thames Fire Brigade is worthy of a nomination, please feel free to do so on the link below.
Each nomination will be read and the judges have specified that they are looking for quality nominations.
Do your thing Thames!
🔥WHO DESERVES TO BE NZ’S VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE OF THE YEAR? 🔥
Every day, volunteer fire brigades across Aotearoa show up for their communities — any time, every time.
They’re there when the siren sounds 🚨but their contribution goes far beyond emergency response. They visit our schools, support local events, lend a hand when times are tough and help make our communities stronger.
Now it’s your turn to show up for them ❤️
To celebrate International Volunteer Year 2026, the UFBA has launched our Brigade of the Year 2026 campaign, and we want to hear what makes your local volunteer fire brigade special.
💬Tell us their story.
Maybe they go above and beyond for your community.
Maybe they’ve been there for you or someone you know.
Maybe they have incredible team spirit.
Or maybe you simply want to acknowledge all the times they’ve shown up for you and your community.
📅Nominations close Sunday 11 October.
🏆Three brigades will be named Brigade of the Year 2026 for the Small, Medium and Large Brigade categories and receive a trophy and vouchers to support the brigade and its members. The winners will be announced at the UFBA's Conference Hui on 25 October.
👉Full details including the nomination form and terms and conditions are available on the UFBA’s website: https://www.ufba.org.nz/brigade-of-the-year-2026

As part of International Volunteer Year 2026, the United Fire Brigades' Association (UFBA) is inviting New Zealanders to nominate their local volunteer fire brigade for Brigade of the Year.

17/08/2026

Member profile Monday!

Meet Henno 😎

Rank and service time?
Firefighter (FF), 4 years

Why did you join?
To be apart of something and help the community

First working call?
I can't remember but my first real memorable callout was an MVA (motor vehicle accident)

Favourite truck/ appliance?
557

Fun fact about you?
I’m a New Years baby

Admins note:
Henno works for Fairview Motors alongside another brigade member. Their employer is a real MVP and allows both boys to run when that siren goes! Losing two workers at once is a big loss for any business during the day so we are very greatful for this

Henno has also done a few waterways competitions with our team over the years

👩‍🚒 - KG