From Cubs to Scouts to Venturers to the fire brigade, Mark Buckley has lived every stage of his life being part of a pack.
The 56-year-old chief fire officer and Queen’s Service Medal recipient said he had strong leaders who played a big part in his life growing up.
For the past 15 years, he has been that type of leader himself.
Mark grew up in Lyttelton at a time when most families had lived there for many years, generation after generation.
Mark is the third generation of Buckleys living in the port.
His parents worked there all their lives, his father a butcher and his mother an accountant.
This meant Mark spent of most of his childhood in Lyttelton. He kept out of trouble with his involvement in Cubs, Scouts and Venturers and playing rugby.
It was through Venturers he first got involved with the fire brigade.
“That had a great impact on my life. I met some really nice people and had some really good influences as far as leaders go,” said Mark.
In fact, Mark grew up with Andrew Norris, the chief fire officer for the Governors Bay Volunteer Fire Station.
Before that, when he finished his apprenticeship as a boilermaker welder. Mark spent a couple of years living in Australia.
“Back then, going to Australia was like going on your big OE,” said Mark.
When he returned to Lyttelton in 1986, at 21, Mark joined the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade.
While still volunteering at the brigade, he worked as a transport manager at Stark Brothers.
He worked there up until six years ago when he became the owner of Ocean Spray Transport Ltd.
Mark is married to Belinda who has been his support for the past 25 years.
They have two sons at home, Logan, 21, who works for Air New Zealand and Connor, 18, who has just started a degree in sports analysis at Canterbury University.
Last year, Connor joined the fire brigade.
“I thought what I’ve been through over the last 12 or 13 years in particular would have put him off but he seems to be very driven and dedicated to becoming a firefighter so good on him,” said Mark.
Mark has been a part of the brigade for 35 years now, the last 13 years of that have had it’s challenges.
“The earthquakes brought the best of our people to the surface,” said Mark about his crew.
“We spent two and a half weeks living, eating, breathing, sleeping on station over that period. I think we attended to 650 calls from the community, we basically ran 24/7,” he said.
The Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade lost its station officer Brad Fletcher in 2014, when the lift he was working on at the port toppled over.
The brigade crew was first on the scene to the incident.
“Turning up to not only one of your good friends but one of the members of the brigade, that was a very tough time,” said Mark.
Not long after that there were two significant ship fires, one after the other.
“That also took a strain on the brigade as far as the commitment to ship firefighting. All this happened within about 12 months of each other,” said Mark.
On coping with the tragedies he has faced, Mark said: “I don’t know that you can put it into words. It’s really a matter of years of dealing with that type of thing and the training that has gone on.”
“I couldn’t stand there and do it all myself, it’s all very well I’m the chief but in all honesty, if I didn’t have the highly driven, highly trained, highly motivated people in the brigade then I wouldn’t be able to do what I do,” Mark said.
Mark’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.
“I took that as a sign that people do realise what we do in the brigade,” said Mark.
And that appreciation goes both ways.
Mark said he loves the people in his community and that’s why he has been a part of the fire service for so long.
“It’s doing the best for your community and it’s the camaraderie within the fire brigade and the people that you get to meet.”
He said the brigade is a very tight group.
“They’re people who are very driven and look after each other, very professional,” he said.
Next year the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade will celebrate its 150th jubilee which Mark hopes to be a big affair.
