How We Got Here

The town of Feilding was inhabited by European settlers in 1874. The building of the town began in this year and by the early 1880s the town had grown considerably and a number of building fires had taken place. This caused the people of Feilding to organise the formation of a Fire Brigade for the town. Due to funds it took several years, but the Feilding Volunteer Fire Brigade was created in May 1888. 25 men of the town joined to become the founding members of the brigade, with the first leader being Captain Charles Bray.

Immediately after the formation of the brigade a bell and tower was erected in Manchester Square to be used to raise alarm of a fire in the town.

Fundraising also immediately began for the brigade to purchase plant and equipment. The Brigade purchased their first fire engine in June 1889 of which it was christened and named ‘The Victor’. The Victor was a manual pumping engine that could pump water from wells around the town and the Makino stream. The first Feilding fire stations were simply sheds donated or loaned to the Brigade to store the plant and equipment.

The most devastating fires that Feilding witnessed took place in the late 1890s and early 1900s, with the most devastating being the Carthew buildings in the Manchester Square on February 22nd 1901. The whole block went up in flames, destroying in total nine businesses. The main reason for this was that the manual Fire Engine kept draining the water wells empty and the suction hose continued to get clogged with mud while trying to fight the fire. As a result of this fire a reticulated water supply for Feilding was planned, installed and in place by October 1905.

In 1907 the Feilding Fire Board, which was a branch of the Feilding Borough Council was created to govern and fund the brigade. In 1910 the first purpose built Fire Station was built in Bowen Street to house the brigades plant and equipment as well as living quarters for 4 single men to improve the brigades turn out time to fires. The Brigade received their first motorised Fire Engine, a model T Ford in 1916 and a second in 1923.

In 1909 a major fire occurred at the Feilding Hotel. Feilding fireman Douglas Williamson was tragically killed at this fire when a chimney collapsed on top of him. In 1921 another Feilding fireman would be killed in the call of duty. Fireman Raymond Farnsworth was struck by a train while responding to the fire station on his motorbike. Since then, fortunately, no more Feilding firemen have been killed in the call of duty.

At the outbreak of WW1 and WW2, many Feilding firemen would join the New Zealand Services, mostly the army and serve New Zealand overseas. Between 1914-1918, 33 Feilding fireman or ex firemen would serve overseas during WW1. Nine members paid the ultimate sacrifice and never returned home. Between 1939-1945, 21 Feilding firemen or ex firemen would serve overseas during WW2. Two members paid the ultimate sacrifice and never returned home.

The Brigade has a long tradition at competing in hose running competitions. The Brigade have held inter-brigade competitions since 1889. Feilding competition teams have also competed against other brigades around the country in competitions since 1891 to the present day.

In 1975, the Fire Boards (which were part of the local councils) around the country were disbanded, including the Feilding Fire Board. From April 1976 all Urban Fire Brigades in New Zealand came under the governance of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission. It was also in late 1975 that the Feilding Volunteer Fire Brigade moved into the current Fire Station on Kimbolton road.