Simon Gibson’s gold star ceremony was appropriately held the day after Guy Fawkes
Simon Gibson’s gold star ceremony was appropriately held the day after Guy Fawkes, a night that has been his busiest over the past two and a half decades. “We would start fighting the fires at 6pm and it would stretch until three in the morning,” says Mr Gibson. At the start of summer the gorse was beginning to dry out; spelling disaster in a hill-clad community with a ready supply of skyrockets. “As we were putting down bushfires on one ridge [people] would be travelling down the road firing more up [into the hills]. “We would just follow them along, putting out all the fires, it was just extraordinary,” he says. The year before skyrockets were banned was the worst in memory, and Mr Gibson is happy to see Guy Fawkes become “an absolute non-event” on Lower Hutt’s hills. The award recognises 25 years of voluntary service that started in 1984 at the Point Howard station and moved to Seaview after amalgamation. Mr Gibson, now a Belmont resident, joined the volunteer crew out of sense of service to the community. Dave Price was the volunteer officer in charge at the time, someone Mr Gibson says “loved a good practical joke”. Along with the humour came some horrific experiences that give him pause to reflect. “Attending motor vehicle accidents involving kids is really horrid, as are most high speed impacts.” First-aid and other skills learnt on the job have served him beyond the call of duty. “There are many times I have been able to help people who are hurt in the street, it gives you that ability to react very quickly,” he says. Mr Gibson builds super magnets by day, an evolving field that is “taking off around the world.” Seaview Firestation officer in charge of volunteers Stephen Charlton says this year’s Guy Fawkes saw them dampening down bonfires on Petone’s foreshore. Mr Charlton has been a volunteer for the past 19 years, and says Mr Gibson is the fourth serving member with a gold star to their name. “He’s a hell of a nice guy, very reliable, and has a great wit and humour about him,” says Mr Charlton.
