The Wellsford Volunteer Fire Brigade north of Auckland is tapping into the local high school for recruits as rural brigades across the country are on the brink of a crisis with volunteer numbers at all time lows.
It's an average school day for the group of teens at Rodney College until a text comes in signalling a fire alarm for them to respond to, Seven Sharp reported.
The two young women and young man, the brigade's newest recruits, are part of the solution to a recruitment crisis evolving as older locals find it hard to commit time to volunteering because of demands on them like work and family commitments.
The brigade has 36 volunteers, 10 under the age of 25.
"We struggle at times for numbers and we can see glimpses of what other brigades around the country are doing. And it's pretty uniform that everybody is struggling for numbers," said Matt Riley, senior firefighter.
The job is very demanding and no callout is ever the same.
"Floods, motor vehicle accidents, structure fires, scrub fires, cats up trees, medical calls, we support St John," Mr Riley said.
And the students love the work with the brigade.
"I have always had a passion for helping people. It's always been a big thing for me and I've wanted to do this for quite a few years," one young woman said.
Another said: "I came from Mangawai and I was in my bikini. So I had to fight a house fire in a bikini."
And they're learning a lot along the way.
"The Fire Service is a fairly sort of disciplined institution. It's also the camaraderie - get a good feeling from going out and helping people," Mr Riley said.
Meanwhile, Taupo Fire Brigade, with just 13 volunteers, has gone as far as putting out an SOS for people to join its ranks.
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