At about lunchtime today the pagers of HVFP members lit up with another activation; this for Salvage in central Lower Hutt, and our first activation for our Salvage capability.

RIMU4926 and 4928 responded to the BCITO Offices (formerly the Timezone Gaming Arcade) on High Street where a water pipe that was being worked on had through a combination of circumstances, 'let go' of a lot of water.

Firefighters from Hutt, Seaview and Avalon responded; they helped with the initial Salvage work (saving papers and other equipment from water damage) and the Fire Police Unit with it's AquaVac's were able to extract the majority of the water that had damaged a storage area and part of an open-plan office space.

SSO Ackroyd gets his 'hands dirty' with the AquaVac.

This turned out to be an excellent 'commissioning' for our Salvage role in the Valley, and our ability to provide Salvage for the Valley should improve response times for Salvage needs in the Valley; the next nearest Salvage capability is based at Kilbirnie with our friends from Wellington Fire Support.