Auckland Operational Support

The Auckland Volunteer Fire Police Corps was formed in 1933 after a major downtown fire where a crowd, estimated at 10,000, disrupted fire-fighting operations, got out of hand and looted entire stocks from fire-affected buildings. It wasn't until police were joined by armed Marines from the Naval Base that order could be restored. The Fire Chief of the day, not wanting a repetition of that mayhem, decided to form a Volunteer Fire Police Corps which would be trained and ready to attend all major fires.
Now, 90 years later, the group's known as Auckland Operational Support, which, as the Auckland Volunteer Fire Brigade, has an Agreement of Service with Fire and Emergency New Zealand to provide support as required to fire fighters, emergency services and the wider community throughout the Auckland Fire Region. It's the biggest volunteer brigade or unit in Fire and Emergency New Zealand with an establishment of 60 members carefully recruited right across Greater Auckland to provide best turnout times wherever the emergency occurs. The Unit attended 601 calls in calendar year 2022, each one a working job: it's rare, indeed, for the unit to be paged and not needed.
Members are rostered as duty drivers to ensure there is an appropriate and prompt response from among the Unit's 4 vehicles, including the Canteen (Operational Support 4) stationed at Balmoral Fire Station.