One hundred and fifty years of the Cromwell Volunteer Fire Brigade is being celebrated with a fire station open day and an anniversary dinner tomorrow.

From 10am to 2pm the Cromwell fire station will be open to everyone and there will be displays and activities for all ages, along with food and coffee.

Chief fire officer Neil Gillepsie said his team of close to 35 firefighters would be attending the open day and there would be lots of educational things to do, including fire trucks for people to climb in and take a turn sitting in. 

“There will be dynamic video goggles to try… along with a garage rigged up and filled with smoke, so people can see what a smoke filled room looks like.”

A car cutting display is planned along with fire safety stalls, fire extinguisher displays, and other give it a go activities.

After the open day 150 people including past and present Brigade members will attend the 150th anniversary dinner, annual honours presentation and social night at the Cromwell College gymnasium. 

Neil said six past members, and two widows of men who all attended the 100th anniversary in 1974, would be at tomorrow's dinner. 

“The oldest is Leo Mangos, he lives in Tauranga, he’s 88 and coming down.”

Leo joined the Cromwell brigade in 1955. 

Neil said the weekend ahead would be a busy one and attendees were looking forward to reminiscing and swapping stories about what has changed from when they first joined up. 

“We’ve just had a recruitment drive too [for more volunteer firefighters].

“There’s been a good response… after this weekend I will be sitting down and going through the applications.” 

To learn more about volunteering visit the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) Volunteer for us webpage.

Read more: Cromwell Volunteer Fire Brigade to celebrate 150 years.