The Glenavy Volunteer Fire Brigade will have to travel to Oamaru to refuel their fire appliance after the local fuel station was demolished without notice.
The Allied Petroleum station was demolished in mid-April, and is being rebuilt with significant upgrades but not expected to be complete until June 18.
Glenavy Volunteer Fire Brigade secretary Digger McCulloch said he was given virtually no notice about the nine-week redevelopment project.
He said the fuel company had informed the community about its plans by distributing an information flyer to Glenavy School pupils, but that information reached only people who had children.
‘‘The fire brigade should have been notified,'' Mr McCulloch said.
Allied Petroleum marketing manager Brett Haldane acknowledged the company did not tell the brigade directly of the company's plans, but believed it had provided adequate communication to the community.
He said Allied Petroleum put information about the closure in the Glenavy School notices, and the company thought a wider community newsletter would be produced after that was distributed.
‘‘We placed signs on the fuel stop forecourt. We emailed notification to our direct card customers.
‘‘We notified Mobilcard, given many of their cards are used at the fuel stop.
‘‘The brigade is not a direct customer of Allied Petroleum, and unfortunately it does not seem they were informed of the closure by their card provider.''
Mr McCulloch said the brigade would have to go to Oamaru for fuel until the new station was opened, and that was not ideal for an emergency response vehicle.
‘‘We're all volunteers. We don't have time to run to Oamaru for fuel.''
He said the brigade had enough fuel at the moment, but that was due to the luck of no callouts for the volunteer brigade since the fuel pumps were switched off, not the result of forward planning.
He said access to a spare tank of fuel was provided, but it was not easy to use.
Mr Haldane said Allied had offered to deliver a filled mobile trailer tank to the brigade, but that offer had not yet been accepted.