GEORGE TOELAU

As a Samoan firefighter, I enjoy the respect of my family, community and church. The kids look up to me as a positive role model and that gives me a real sense of satisfaction. I would encourage the Samoan community, and other Island people, to consider becoming a firefighter. Many Pacific Island people don’t understand the dangers of fire. I know this first hand. When I was nine years old, my family’s home caught fire and we lost everything, all the memories and prized possessions. The cost is terrible. But it’s avoidable. That’s why I believe it’s important for our Pacific Island communities to learn about the dangers of fire.

More useful information:

Read the NZFS Research paper on: Effective Fire Safety Strategies for Pacific People
Have a look at statistics on fire and its results in New Zealand, and what the NZFS is doing to effectively prevent fatalities from fire
Have a look at one of the positive community education tools the NZFS uses to prevent fires – FireWise for Schools
Have a look at the number of incident statistics to get an idea of how many incidents firefighters attend in a year in any given region