Fire fighter
AC Pieter Nortje
From mean streets to blue skies
Fire fighting at Whenuapai is a world away from treating gunshot wounds on the mean streets of South Africa, but AC Pieter Nortje is well equipped for both.
Hailing from the Gauteng Province, AC Nortje came to New Zealand in November 2001 and shortly afterwards found himself in uniform when he joined the Air Force in May 2002, he says.
'When I arrived in New Zealand I contacted the Fire Service and St Johns Ambulance, but they both told me they would not be recruiting for a while. Then I saw the Air Force was looking for some Fire Fighters and thought to give it ago and I haven't regretted my decision.'
And judging by the entries in AC Nortje's CV the Air Force would have been foolish not to snap up his services. His experience speaks for itself. As an Emergency Practitioner at Nigel Emergency Services (Fire Fighter and Paramedic), as well a being member of the Nigel Emergency Dive Team who was working with the Police Dive Team, he was trained in 'fighting Fires, rescues and attending to all sorts of emergencies from maternity calls, gunshots, stab wounds, car crashes, drowning, assaults and all types of medical calls,' he says.
Even with this list of credentials the Air Force was able to teach him something new.
'All the basics are the same but every country have its own way of getting the job done, because New Zealand is working on the British system and South Africa is working on the American system. It is good experience to learn the British system because you can never learn too much and aircraft fire fighting was new to me because I had no previous experience on aircraft fires.'
During his career in South Africa AC Nortje says he attended many call outs, but one of the biggest he can recall was when two trains, one carrying diesel the other carrying fertiliser collided. He remembers the crash happened about 2.30pm sometime during 2000 and it took six hours to put out the flames.
'There were about 18 fire appliances from the neighbouring towns on the scene to assist us. Tragically, one of the train drivers lost his life and we found his body the next morning buried under the gravel on the side of the railway line. There were three other survivors with minor injuries. We worked until around 7.30 the next morning when a relief crew took over to continuing to cool the tankers down.
AC Nortje says his previous experiences have helped him slide into Air Force service. 'With my knowledge and skills I gained in South Africa I could relate it to my training, and how to work with other fire fighters as a team member and to be able to know that you can trust you team members with your life if it comes to that.'
Due to his brief time in the RNZAF he struggles to name a career highlight but says the level of training and the friendships made are the best aspects of Air Force life.