"Why tinker with something that's working?" Waitaki rural fire officer at Omarama, Lex Perriam, wants to know.
He is worried equipment and volunteers' support at Omarama could be lost if the National Rural Fire Authority shifts control of Ahuriri rural firefighting to South Canterbury instead of the Waitaki district.
He has been involved with rural firefighting at Omarama for more than 30 years, and has seen that happen with past restructuring.
The rural fire party works together with the Omarama Fire Service brigade and gives support during civil defence emergencies.
The Waitaki District Council is opposing the strategy developed by the national authority, sharing similar concerns with Mr Perriam, particularly in relation to civil defence and co-operation fighting fires.
Omarama has a fire service brigade which fights mainly property fires, but the service also runs a first response unit for medical emergencies, largely funded by the community.
That is not affected by the proposed strategy.
The Waitaki rural fire party at Omarama, supported by tankers at Otematata and Kurow, fights mainly vegetation fires.
Volunteers often serve with both the Omarama fire service and rural fire party.
Mr Perriam said both also co-operate and work together - for example if the fire service is fighting a property fire and cannot get easy access to water, the rural fire party will provide tankers in support.
Mr Perriam contacted the Otago Daily Times late last week to oppose putting Omarama under the control of South Canterbury.
"This would be the third time since the 1980s the Ahuriri area has been interfered with," Mr Perriam said.
That interference had made it difficult to encourage firefighting volunteers and harder to retain fire equipment and fire stations.
"Resources on two previous occasions have been stripped by other joint fire authorities," Mr Perriam told the newspaper.
The Waitaki District Council, Omarama community and Ahuriri farmers, "with great effort", had managed to re-establish a rural firefighting force and an emergency team of volunteers in Omarama.
The Waitaki and Omarama area was more aligned to Otago than it was to South Canterbury.
But now "a bureaucracy" - the national authority - was demanding Omarama worked under another region with no improvement nor any benefit to the Omarama and Ahuriri community.
"What will happen, as experienced on other occasions, is that fire assets will be reallocated away from Omarama and its volunteers," Mr Perriam said.
