Firefighters in Whangārei and Kaipara will be able to get weather-related jobs resolved a little easier with the donation of chainsaws to brigades in need.

Stihl Shop Whangārei owner James Nair handed over 15 chainsaws to Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) group manager Whangarei Corey Mitchitt last week, and said they would go some way to making the work of firefighters easier.

The idea behind making a donation came during Cyclone Gabrielle, when police bought light gear from his shop.

“That got me thinking [about] the bigger picture, and I then approached Stihl headquarters and they agreed to support such a worthy cause. Fenz provides such an important service to the community.

“They work tirelessly, beyond the call of duty, especially in emergency situations. Stihl has helped out in the past as well, especially during the Christchurch earthquakes,” Nair said.

One brigade in Whangārei fielded more than 40 call-outs at the height of the storm, he said, which highlighted the need for specialist equipment such as chainsaws.

Mitchitt said the generous donation would come in handy during weather events, when firefighters used chainsaws mainly for cutting smaller trees and branches that blocked roads or access to where they needed to get to.

“We have to control where the chainsaws go – we have to make sure the brigade members who get these chainsaws are trained to use them.”

He said the chainsaws would go to brigades in Whangārei and Kaipara to start with. Not all brigades have chainsaws, and for those that did, he said Fenz trained some of its brigade members on how to use them.

“There’s normally one chainsaw per brigade, with all the safety gear that goes along with it. We saw after that last big storm that access to emergency incidents was one of the main issues we ran into.”