News Story
Allan Bruce, who had a distinguished career spanning some 20 years in the fire services in Auckland, has died, the result of a motor accident in Palmview on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The crash also claimed the life of his wife, Anne.
Allan Bruce joined the Wellington Brigade in 1947 before serving with the London Fire Brigade. On his return to New Zealand in 1957 he was appointed Officer at the new Fire Service Training School at Island Bay. He came to Auckland as Deputy Chief on the North Shore until appointed to the Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board, as Fourth Officer, then promoted to Deputy in 1963. He was subsequently appointed Chief in 1976 and Regional Commander a year later. Allan Bruce's time as an Executive Officer in Auckland paralleled extraordinary growth and modernisation of the Brigade. Numerous new fire stations were opened, the first aerial platform, "Snorkel", appliance was deployed and modern protective uniforms were introduced while turnout arrangements and communications were given a makeover. Some of the innovations introduced to Auckland in Allan Bruce's time survive today. He was strong supporter of the Fire Police Unit (which later became Operational Support).
Early in 1982 Allan Bruce was appointed Chief Officer of the newly formed SA Metropolitan Fire Service where he reorganised brigades.
He retired in 1989 and retained interest in the industry as a consultant. In 2009 he published his book "Into the Line of Fire" which, as he wrote "sets out to find the source of the trouble in the 1990s that almost destroyed a first-class fire service in New Zealand... how and why the situation developed, what went wrong and what it will take to rebuild it from the wreckage..."
