Putting out fires in the blood for the Waitahuna family

Briar Holgate, 17, from Waitahuna, joined her father and two older brothers as a qualified firefighter in the Volunteer Fire Department after completing her training.

“I remember my dad enlisting in the military when I was a kid, and growing up, he suddenly had to drop everything and go to the emergency room,” said the 12th-grade Lawrence Area School student.

Briar and his brother Bryn, a builder, live in a house on the family farm between Waitahuna and Lawrence and go on missions with their father to both city brigades.

The eldest brother Crede is a qualified firefighter in Cromwell, where he lives, and also works as a builder.