Colin Lawrie
Senior Staff Officer Colin Lawrie is the first in the Levin Volunteer Fire Brigade's history to receive a double Gold Star from the United Fire Brigades Association for fifty years voluntary work with the NZ Fire Service, first in Masterton then in Levin since 1968. In presenting that award the Deputy National Commissioner said that the Fire Service could just not deliver without volunteers like Colin who has notched up a 97% attendance rate over the years.
Colin says his fire service career began when he was 7 or 8 and living near Westport. A steam train set fire to the vegetation alongside the track which then set fire to the piles under the station. Because he was small his eldest brother got him to crawl underneath with a small bucket of water to apply to the piles which saved the railway station.
The job is not an easy one: it needs courage, knowledge of fire safety, fire fighting, first aid, how to use specialised equipment - and as a volunteer service - fund raising and marketing skills. In return firefighters become fit, confident leaders used to dealing with difficult dangerous situations and all sorts of people. Colin has all those skills and has always aimed for the highest personal and professional standards, acting ethically and consistently in his dealings with the community.
He leaves us with improvements he made to the brigades administrative work. He has spent hundreds of hours every year doing Fire reports, Health and Safety monitoring and helping the Rural Fire Force as well as attending training nights and raising thousands of dollars for brigade projects and acting as brigade treasurer - though he had the foresight to transfer that work to an accounting firm.
This award will join the prestigious Queens Service Medal he received in 2008 for his contribution to Horowhenua and the NZ Fire Service. He has delivered exceptional service to all of us - he has worked tirelessly without financial reward and he and his family know only too well about the fire call outs that have caused broken sleep, disruption of planned family events and cold dinners, but despite all that wife Jan and son David both also contributed to the work of the fire service.