Due to low staffing levels, the station has been operating only 8am-4.30pm Monday to Friday, with volunteer crews from Rolleston and Dunsandel responding to the camp outside of those hours since January last year.
While the station was unstaffed, 16-year-old Lizzie Marvin died in a house fire about 2am on May 8, 2024.
Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived within its time target of 11 minutes, but by then the fire was too fierce for them to enter the home.
Lizzie had called 111 and lost contact with the dispatcher, presumably overcome by smoke.
Her mum Anne-Marie Marvin told The Press she believed Lizzie had stayed in the house to save their pets.
Marvin was unsure if there would have been a different outcome if the Burnham station was staffed.
“If Burnham had been there they would have been there in two or three minutes. She might have had a chance, but we don’t know. It happened so quickly,” she said.
“Last year’s fire did not impact this decision – it has always been our intent to return to full coverage as resources allowed,” he said.
Totoro said the qualification of a new cohort of emergency responders has meant 24-hour operations are once more possible.
“The troop now consists of 21 emergency responders, compared to 14 at the time of reduced coverage.”
Totoro said the troop will continue to respond to incidents outside of the camp when required.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Canterbury area commander Dave Berry said he was happy to see the station returned to 24-hour operations.
“It reduces the workload for other brigades that have to respond to that area.”
