During a six-month deployment, Greg Blaze assisted in the design of fire and emergency stations across the islands of Samoa. Here’s why he chose to take part.
“One of the most satisfying things about humanitarian work is the opportunity to share your skills and build capacity in local organisations, so they can go on to deliver the services that are needed.”
Australian civil engineer, Greg Blaze OAM, deployed to Samoa in September 2023 for six months as part of DFAT’s Australia Assists Program. Blaze worked closely with the Samoa Fire Emergency Services Authority (SFESA) to develop new and existing infrastructure to improve the efficacy of emergency response across Samoa.
SFESA is a highly experienced provider of emergency services to more than 300 communities across the four inhabited islands of Samoa. SFESA comprises fire-fighting and prevention, rescue responses and, more recently, ambulance services.
In light of this addition, and the growing challenge of climate change, SFESA saw the need for a more extensive network of emergency-response infrastructure.
“There are two fire and emergency stations on the main island of Upolu and two fire stations on the other main island, Savai’i,” Blaze explained. “But they’re just too far apart. So SFESA’s ability to respond in a timely and effective manner to emergencies is limited. They wanted to build additional stations. So they brought me over to assist them with that program.”
Collaborating with the SFESA Commissioner and executive team, Blaze and his co-worker assisted in the design of a network of fire and emergency stations across the main islands.
“SFESA earmarked three locations on the island of Upolu – Faleolo, Falealili and Faleata – and a further three locations on Savai’i for the new stations,” Blaze said. “I assisted in planning for the higher priority stations and in the development of project management tools for the future projects.”
Of crucial importance to Blaze was the creation of a project management framework that could be used in future by SFESA staff to deliver any form of infrastructure. The framework covers initiating a project, organising design, tendering for construction and closing out the project.
“I think that is the most important thing I will leave my colleagues. Because it enables them to carry out this process independently.”
In his eyes, this was a key differentiating factor between his time in Samoa and his previous deployments.
“The longer you spend in a country, the more chance you have to witness building works,” he said. “But I wasn’t in Samoa for long enough for that, so it was about ensuring that those I left behind could keep the process running afterwards.”
On a day-to-day basis, Blaze’s duties included:
- Working with local authorities to develop construction contracts to submit to the Samoan Government
- Putting the contracts out to tender and assessing the applications
- Engaging contractors to conduct the work
- Review the work for technical accuracy and ensure timely submission
Read more: Engineers combating drought and groundwater salinity in Kiribati
More than work
With over 35 years engineering experience, Samoa was Blaze’s third overseas deployment with RedR Australia. Previously, he had travelled to Somalia in 2009-14 and Palestine in 2018-19.
Having worked in local government for most of his career, Blaze said he “never, ever” imagined engaging in humanitarian work. That was, until 2008, when he was inspired by a speaker at an engineering conference.
Blaze signed up for humanitarian training with RedR Australia and subsequently deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia to work with the World Food Program.
“At that stage, I was the Director of Engineering for my city. I deployed during my long service leave for three months and it just sort of captured my imagination. It was a real adventure. My wife and I ended up staying for about five years.
“How does your average local government engineer get to be in a position where you’re in the middle of a war zone, building infrastructure for refugees? Perhaps because no one else wanted to go there. But once you get to these sorts of locations, you realise that there’s a lot of good work to be done.”
Samoa is a safe and stable nation, far from the realities of a war zone and close enough to Australia for Blaze to be home for Christmas. Blaze said his SFESA colleagues were very welcoming and he enjoyed the deployment. A key challenge was being away from loved ones, but technology enabled him to stay connected.
Fire stations in the South Pacific regularly rely on donated equipment and facilities, often pre-used in other countries and rebranded. So, in addition to serving hundreds of communities across four islands, Samoan firefighters have the challenge of using older equipment than that available to Australian firefighters.
Blaze has observed that, for his Samoan co-workers, “Their work is more than just work. They have a strong desire to serve their community, their village, their family. And that comes out in the way they think, the way they work and the way they operate”.
Australian firefighters and emergency workers are well received as volunteers or deployees in Samoa.
“There are opportunities for firefighters in Samoa and other locations, if they or their organisations want to get involved with local organisations to assist with some training or mentoring or to share experiences.”
Since completion of his Samoan deployment, Blaze has kept his options open. He is interested in further humanitarian opportunities, but for now looks forward to spending time with his family.
“Humanitarian work is one of those things that I never really thought about doing. But once you start, it’s very satisfying.”
Read more: Humanitarian engineering more important than ever
