Fire and Emergency New Zealand tribute to Mike Hall
2 October 2019
We at Fire and Emergency New Zealand wish to extend our great sympathy to the families of Mike Hall and Norman Comerford after their tragic deaths when their plane crashed in the Northern Tararua Ranges.
Mike was New Zealand Fire Service Chief Executive and National Commander from May 2001 until his retirement in December 2011, following a 30-year firefighting career in Australia.
Many current members of Fire and Emergency New Zealand served under him in the previous Fire Service, so knew him well. His leadership helped bring stability to the Fire Service following a challenging period during the 1990s, and covered several significant events in our history including the Tamahere coolstore fire in 2008 and Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 he was made a Companion of The Queen's Service Order for his leadership to help transform the New Zealand Fire Service into a national fire and rescue service.
We are deeply saddened by this event and our thoughts are with Mike and Norman’s whanau and friends.
In sadness and in acknowledgement of Mike’s great contribution to fire-fighting in New Zealand, I have asked fire stations around the country to fly their flags at half-mast for 24 hours from this morning.