November 6, 2008

One of the quietest Guy Fawkes nights on record has the Fire Service praising the responsible fireworks attitude shown by New Zealanders.

Between 7pm last night and 4am this morning, the Fire Service responded to 133 fire related calls – a slight reduction on the 138 callouts on Guy Fawkes night last year but a significant reduction on the 341 in 2006, and 408 in 2005, the two years before the rule changes.

Fire Service Acting National Commander, Bill Butzbach, said it was lowest number of calls received on their traditionally busiest time of the year since official records began in 1996.

“While there were still incidents of irresponsible use of fireworks, these were isolated and overall we’re encouraged by how Kiwi’s have heeded the call for a more responsible attitude to fireworks safety,” said Mr Butzbach.

“The wet weather in some areas may have made a difference, but certainly the rule changes introduced by the government have been a contributor to the relatively low number of calls.”

The Fire Service will now analyse the data, review fire records and meet with its partners Police, ERMA and Ministry for the Environment to formerly assess the Guy Fawkes period and then report back to government.