PHOTO
With fewer firefighters living in central Queenstown, the local volunteer fire brigade’s come up with an "out-of-the-box" solution.
It’s in the early stages of buying a two- or three-bedroom flat close to their Isle St station.
Chief fire officer Terry O’Connell admits it’s an unusual move for a brigade to take — "absolutely left-field, yeah, out of the box".
"We had a whole heap of experienced ones that moved out to Shotover Country, Lake Hayes Estate, and that emptied us out of town for a bit," he explains.
"If it wasn’t for the accommodation we have on station, that would have put us in a real spot."
An extensive station refurb, opened five years ago, included nine rooms to house fireys.
"At the moment we’re fine with the existing people we’ve got around town.
"This is more of a long-term view of getting people into town, close to the fire station."
Central Queenstown’s long-term housing stock is slowly drying up as developers, thanks to attractive zoning, buy residential properties to build apartments for lucrative short-term accommodation.
"That’s just a down side for us, we lose people," O’Connell says.
He ticks off a number of former stalwart fireys who all used to have family homes in the vicinity of Isle St.
The property they’re looking to buy would be under $1 million, he says.
"It’ll put a hole in the funds and we’ll have to fundraise for it, but it’s not beyond us."
