In November 1984 a public meeting instigated by Don Scott (a professional firefighter), and chaired by the late Jack Mitchell (a local councillor), discussed the series of house fires and together the congregation formulated a solution. A steering committee (consisting of Don Scott, Richard Skellams, and Eddie Fox) was formed to head up the establishment of a fire brigade in Onewhero.

Each member of the steering committee bought something different to the table. Don, as a professional firefighter, was in the know, and could help source equipment; Richard with his experience working in a bank knew his way around with money; and Eddie could keep both of the young blokes in check.

The initial call-out process involved Marion Skellams (Richard's wife and a future member of the crew, and brigade secretary) ringing around the firefighters, informing them of the situation. Later, a 5-mile air-raid siren was positioned on top of the local general store, which was partnered with a radio that resided at the Skellams' house, to be operated by Marion.

The crew began their training at monthly increments, but it was decided that that was too infrequently, so the crew began to train weekly; the content of which included hose drills, management of a multitude of fires including car fires, structure fires, vegetation fire, hazardous materials, management of vehicle accidents, and first aid. 

The Onewhero Volunteer Rural Fire Force attended their first call out in April of 1985, responding to a vegetation fire on Brewster Road, Pukekawa - attendees of this call were firefighters Peter Hemi, Don Scott, Roger Skellams, Bob Petrie, and Rima Taua. 

This was the first of almost 2000 callouts the Onewhero Volunteer Fire Brigade have attended in their lifetime. This includes over 600 medical calls responded to since the start of the Co-Response program in 2003.

As the brigade began to grow, the constraints of the current headquarters in Don Scott's garage were recognised. We needed a proper fire station! 

Jock Anderson, a local farmer, and future firefighter, following a conversation with a member of the New Zealand Forestry Service that sat unused on Klondyke Road, were some buildings that would form the beginnings of the Onewhero Fire Station. August and September of 1986 would see the dismantling of the building on Klondyke Road, and the preparation of the site on Onewhero Domain that would serve as the home of the Brigade. By that October the rebuilding of the structures was underway.

The second donated building came from John and Peter Walter's property and were old shearer's quarters. In January of 1987, Paul Massey's large transporter trailer, towed by Maurice Wymer's tractor, moved the quarters to the site of the soon-to-be fire station. 

By March 1987, after many hours of work by the firefighters most Saturdays since the project's commencement, the building reached the 'lock-up' stage for the vehicle and trailer to be relocated from the Skellam's and Scott's, respectively.

At this point, the 5-mile ex-air-raid siren was moved from the local general store to the station.

Eventually, by January 1988 the finishing touches of the building were complete. All that was left to do was designate the station as the home of the Onewhero Volunteer Fire Brigade. Matua Rima Taua, a local Kaumatua and former fire fighter painted the official sign for the station, which was unveiled by Marion. Even though this sign is not in commission anymore, it still serves our brigade well as it is now a very suitable coffee table.

We now could be taken under the wing of the New Zealand Fire Service.

The brigade had long debated having a second appliance, which would complement the appliances of the brigades around us, and prevent us from 'doubling up' our capabilities, it was decided that our secondary appliance should either be a tanker, or a 4-wheel drive

In October 1991 we purchased a Landrover 4-wheel drive appliance from the Mercer Fire Brigade (having previously belonged to the Meremere Powerstation, and before that the New Zealand Electricity Department in Wellington). Affectionately named 'Little Flick', the Landrover was bought into service at the brigade, and assigned the call sign 5210. 

November 1991 saw the first Fire Fighters Games, hosted at the Onewhero Rugby Club. This was an opportunity for neighbouring brigades such as Awhitu, Maramarua, Kaiaua, Waiau Pa, Tuakau, Mercer and Port Waikato to have some fun, and get to know each other.

Between late 2000, and early 2001 the brigade extended the current station to include a third engine bay. As an ever-growing brigade, we needed more and more space to include our 2 appliances and vegetation fire trailer. 

It's now 2002, and the brigade is preparing to purchase their first defibrillator - this really was a community effort. To fundraise the hefty $7000, the brigade called on the Onewhero community to complete 2 days work labelling cereal boxes which will raise enough money for the brigade to purchase the LifePak 500 to be carried on our fire truck so we can best assist patients in during a medical emergency. 

July 1st 2017 saw the establishment of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, an amalgamation of over 14,000 people from 40 pre-existing organisations that provide fire-fighting services to Aotearoa. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) oversee the over 600 fire stations in New Zealand, both volunteer and career, and supports them to meet their responsibility of keeping our communities safe. The tagline of our organisation is 'Whakarotonga iwi - serving our people', which is a goal we strive to accomplish in all of our duties.

Being a part of Fire and Emergency New Zealand has numerous benefits for us, namely that we are now fully funded; so we don't have to rely on our community to help us fundraise, we also have better access to training, uniform, equipment, support, and resources.