Fire and Emergency honours recipients congratulated

31 December 2025

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board Chair Rebecca Keoghan congratulates seven personnel, both paid and volunteer, from Ashburton, Leeston, Amberley, Napier, Wairoa, Te Aroha and Rongotea who have been recognised in the 2026 New Year Honours List released today.

"These Honours are a worthy recognition of the many years of dedicated service these seven recipients have made to Fire and Emergency and their communities," says Rebecca Keoghan.

This year’s recipients of New Year Honours for services to Fire and Emergency are:

- Mr Donald George (Don) Geddes - appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)

- Mr Lloyd Bertram Clausen, MStJ - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

- Mr Paul David Harris, JP - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

- Mr Patrick Gerard O’Rourke - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

- Mr Stanley Donald (Don) Scott - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

- Mr Paul Gregory (Tomsie) Toms - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

- Mr Henry Joseph Wheeler - award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM).

"These Honours are a testament to the trust communities place in Fire and Emergency and the incredible dedication of our people," says Rebecca Keoghan.

"Each recipient has shown unwavering commitment to keeping New Zealanders safe, and their recognition reinforces the value of service and the pride that comes with being part of Fire and Emergency.

"Their achievements not only strengthen the trust our communities have in us, but also inspire others to work and volunteer with Fire and Emergency. On behalf of everyone at Fire and Emergency, and the communities we serve, I would like to extend my congratulations," says Rebecca Keoghan.

More information on recipients follows:

For appointment as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)

Mr Donald George (Don) Geddes

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Land Search and Rescue and the community.

Mr Don Geddes worked with Ashburton District Council as both Principal Rural Fire Officer and Civil Defence Emergency Management Officer for 18 years. Through this role, Mr Geddes managed 10 rural fire forces and 180 volunteers. In 2016 he helped facilitate the implementation of a Welfare Trust, which supports the welfare of volunteer firefighters and their families. He has been a key liaison with Federated Farmers, developing long-standing relationships with the arable farming sector, particularly for the safe burning of crop residue. He has volunteered for Land Search and Rescue New Zealand (LandSAR) with the Methven Group for 50 years and chaired the Group for 20 years. He has served on the Canterbury Regional SAR Committee and chaired that Committee for a term. He served as a Gazetted Advisor (LandSAR) to the New Zealand Police. He was part of a five-person National LandSAR Advisory Panel in 2016, to the then Chief Executive Officer of LandSAR New Zealand. He is a Trustee and Chairperson of WanderSearch Canterbury, a volunteer organisation providing free radio frequency devices for vulnerable individuals at risk of wandering. Mr Geddes has served as a Trustee of the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust and continues his involvement with the Trust as a volunteer.

For the award of the King’s Service Medal (KSM)

Mr Lloyd Bertram Clausen, MStJ

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.

Mr Lloyd Clausen has been a leader in the Leeston community for several decades, serving with a range of organisations.

Mr Clausen joined the Leeston Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1969, since serving in several roles including Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Chief Fire Officer, and being made a Life Member in 1994. He has promoted and led extensive Community Fire Safety programmes in the area. He has been on the Leeston Township Advisory Committee for 30 years, serving as Chair from 2004 to 2024. He has overseen and operated the Leeston Learners Pool for more than 30 years, organising volunteer operation and maintenance. He is the current President of the Ellesmere Returned and Services Association, after 20 years of membership, including organising the annual Poppy Day sales and ANZAC Day services. He is a long-serving member for more than 20 years of the Ellesmere and Selwyn St John Area Committee. Starting in 2011, he has been a Foundation Trust Board Member of the Ellesmere Heritage Park Trust. Mr Clausen has played with the Ellesmere Brass Band for 22 years and the Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Wigram Brass Band for 13 years, performing at various functions locally and nationally.

Mr Paul David Harris, JP

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.

Mr Paul Harris has contributed to the Waipara community for 50 years.

Mr Harris has served with the Waipara Volunteer Fire Brigade since 1975 and as Chief Fire Officer from 1999. He is involved in a wide array of community groups, including the Glenmark Reserves Committee, which he chaired for 15 years. He has raised funds for the Friends of Glenmark Church to maintain this century-old structure. He has been a judge for the New Zealand Shearing Sports committee since 1995 and a referee for the World Sheep Shearing Record Society from 2007 to 2024, judging record attempts nationally and in the United Kingdom and Australia. He was Chief Referee for the World Shearing Championships in Invercargill in 2017. He has chaired the South Island Shearing Sports Committee and the World Sheep Shearing Record Society since 2021. He organised one of New Zealand’s earliest long-standing Speed Shear competitions, held in annually in Waipara for 25 years. Since 1980 he has been a member of the Glenmark Rifle Shooting Club and has helped organise various tournaments. Mr Harris has been a Justice of the Peace in the Waipara community since 1998.

Mr Patrick Gerard O'Rourke

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.

Mr Patrick O'Rourke has served with the Rissington Rural Volunteer Fire Force, north-west of Napier, since 1993.

Appointed Controller in 1999, Mr O'Rourke oversaw the relocation of the Rissington Fire Station to its current site, and led the Brigade through its integration with Fire and Emergency New Zealand. He ensured the geographically isolated Brigade remained a vital first response to a wide range of emergencies. Following Cyclone Gabrielle, he applied his emergency management training to mobilise the Brigade and wider community, establishing a temporary hub to connect residents with support services, during a three-week period of isolation from Napier and Hastings. His leadership contributed to an additional permanent Community Hub building constructed next to the fire station to enhance community resilience. He is a Trustee of the Tumanako Charitable Trust, established in response to Cyclone Gabrielle to financially support recovery efforts for families in the Rissington, Patoka and Puketitiri districts. He has volunteered extensively in the Rissington community since the early 1990s. As Chairperson of Rissington Community Group since its inception in 2011, he has overseen initiatives including scholarships, reunions and community events. Mr O’Rourke served on the Rissington School Board of Trustees from 1994, including nine years as Chairperson, supporting staff and students through fundraising, camps and other activities.

Mr Stanley Donald (Don) Scott

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and civil defence.

Mr Don Scott has been involved with volunteer fire brigades since the 1960s across several regions.

While a paid firefighter in Auckland, Mr Scott established the Onewhero Rural Fire Brigade in 1985, serving as its first Rural Fire Controller. He then volunteered with the Eastland Rural Fire Brigade from 1994, helped establish the Tamatea Rural Fire Force in Central Hawke’s Bay in 2011, before relocating to Hokitika in 2019. He is Health and Safety Officer and Welfare Support Officer for Wairoa Volunteer Fire Brigade, having joined in 2024. Identifying that volunteer rural firefighters were not represented on rural fire matters as a national collective, he approached the Forest and Rural Fire Association of New Zealand in 1989 and established an agreement for the inclusion of Rural Forces as members. He then served as a Committee member from 1994 to 2015. He carried out volunteer civil defence functions between 1996 and 2024 with the District Councils of Gisborne, Wairoa, Hastings, Central Hawke’s Bay, Buller and Westland. He held various roles and provided leadership, notably, for the 2007 Gisborne earthquake, 2019 Fox River flood event, and the 2021 and 2022 Westport flood events, as well as supporting the response to the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Mr Scott served as Treasurer of Hokitika Lions Club.

Mr Paul Gregory (Tomsie) Toms

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and football.

Mr Paul "Tomsie" Toms has volunteered with Te Aroha Volunteer Fire Brigade since 1981 and has been involved with Te Aroha Soccer Club since the late 1970s.

Mr Toms trained as a firefighter-driver and has maintained a high callout attendance percentage. He was Brigade Secretary from 1986 to 1990, Treasurer from 1993 to 1997, joint Secretary/Treasurer until 2001, and has since been Treasurer. He served on numerous Brigade committees for special projects, including to build a shed for the rural fire tanker, alterations to the ageing fire station, bi-annual fundraisers for rescue equipment, and the purchase of two other utility vehicles. He is a Life Member of the Brigade and has continued to promote fire safety and awareness in local schools and through school tours of the fire station. He coached Te Aroha Soccer Club’s first women’s team in the 1980s. He was one of the driving forces behind the building of the clubrooms and moving from Te Aroha College grounds to their present home on Boyd Park. After retiring from playing in the 1980s, he has been a referee with the local Waikato League and has continued to offer advice to the club and coaches on rules and interpretations. Mr Toms has been Membership Secretary of Te Aroha RSA since 1981.

Mr Henry Joseph Wheeler

For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.

Mr Henry Wheeler has contributed more than 50 years to the Rongotea community and has served in the Rongotea Fire Brigade for 55 years.

Mr Wheeler served as the Deputy Chief between 1980 and 1990 and Chief Fire Officer of Rongotea Fire Brigade from 1991 until 2015. He was also simultaneously Chief Fire Officer of Tangimoana Brigade, an auxiliary Brigade of Rongotea. He has fulfilled the role of Welfare Officer, following up with firefighters following traumatic callouts, as well as following up with those affected by fires after the events to offer support. He helped patrol with the Neighbourhood Watch Group on a weekly basis for five years He has been a member of the Rongotea Community committee since inception and has helped in several community projects, including helping plant 1,500 cherry trees throughout the community as part of the Keep Rongotea Beautiful Campaign. He was Chair of the Rongotea Pool Swimming Committee for ten years and was a leader in Every Boys Rally between 1960 and 1980. He raised funds annually to cover the cost of the chemicals that are needed to keep the Rongotea swimming pool open each summer. Mr Wheeler was awarded The Year of the Volunteer Medal by the United Nations in 2001 and a Manawatu District Council Community Award in 2023.