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Gary Walker's Page
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Gary Walker
61, Male
Auckland, New Zealand -
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Profile
- Hometown:
- Auckland, New Zealand
- I Live: (City, State)
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Years in Fire/EMS:
- 28
- Why I Joined the Fire/EMS:
- Strangely, I am not somebody who always wanted to be a firefighter one day, nor is firefighting in the family. However I have been in uniform for most of my life which may have something to do with it. As a child all my schools were uniformed and I was also a member of the ATC and the Boys Brigade. I did have a desire to go into a uniformed public service when I left school and tried out for the police, however I missed out on height for which there was a minimum requirement at the time. For some reason, which is pretty hazy to me now, I decided to join the RNZ Army. This turned out to be a good move and I learnt a lot in those 4 years, as well as gaining my license to drive almost anything with wheels.
When the time came to return to civy st. I had decided that I would like to go driving big rigs long distance, which paid well and seemed like a great way to see the country. Just prior to leaving the Army I befriended another soldier who told me he was off to Aussie and had arranged to join up with the Melbourne Fire Brigade. He said they were looking for new recruits, particularly ex military personnel and that the pay was excellent. Sounded great to me and we decided to go together just as soon as we could. However, just at the last moment, my friends mother died and he had to change plans. I didn't want to go over alone and decided to go back to plan A, and apply for a trucking job. I made a few applications which seemed quite positive but was placed on a waiting list for some considerable time. Meanwhile the excitement of going to Melbourne to join the fire dept had not worn off and I started to wonder about opportunities here in NZ. Anyway I applied and got snapped up immediately, I guess because of my military experience and licenses. Now here I am 42 years later after serving 28 years in the dept and still living it after 12 years in retirement. If I could start over I guess I would want to join the Fire/EMS for any of the reasons most of our FF Nation members gave, but I thought it might be of interest to you to tell my story. I,m sure there must be a few more stories similar to mine where there was a series of circumstances resulting in joining up.
- Relationship Status:
- Married
- Primary Fire/EMS Department:
- New Zealand Fire Service, Auckland
- Department Type:
- Fire/Rescue Department - Paid
- Rank/Role There:
- Captain, Retired
- Years With This Department/Agency
- 28
- Dept. Web Site:
- http://www.fire.org.nz
- Side Jobs or Other Organizations:
- Fire alarm tech.
- Personal Site/Profile:
- http://www.fanz.net.nz
- I Love Being in Fire/EMS Because:
- Job satifaction through service to the community i.e. WAS! I am now retired.
Gary Walker's Blog
Firefighter Loses Life In Cool Store Incident
…
Posted on April 7th, 2008 at 1:00am —
3 Comments
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Grz colleter from belguim
Thanks for the well wishes!!
TCSS
Cat :o)
I see you have St Johns ambo up for sale.... Hmmmm, thinking about it............... Anyways, how are you mate...I got to get more pics of my models up ....
Have a thought for a matchbox Merryweather Snorkel on a enclosed cab.... Haven't seen one yet, might be the 1st..
Take care mate...
I reckon this is a great site, thanks for the referral.
Teen & I have down graded to a 2 b/room flat as all the kids have moved out.
I have a 7m long wall in the garage to display my models (Still never enough room)
Hows things with you ?
Take care my friend...
cheers
Bruce
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