1909 - Henry Follis joins the brigade

Rod Cornelius, Flagstaff,

Henry Follis was born in Auckland 23rd September 1882 and at the age of 20

in 1902 he married Sarah Hannah Smart at 53 Lake Rd Devonport. He lived in Devonport for the rest of his life. They had seven children Enid was 2nd youngest.

Henry Follis joined the brigade on the 13th April 1909 when it was still only operating with a hose reel on wheels and very primitive equipment. The brigade was made up of volunteers. He rose to be Superintendent by 1917 and retired in 1948 after 39 years service.

(See photo in page 1917)

Henry who was a builder by trade built the house which the family still own in Aramoana Avenue. The house was the first to have an alarm system that allowed Henry to identify where a fire was located in the town. Enid recalls there being about eight rings and each one represented an area of the town, She always remembered that one ring was Bowen St. and eight was up where they lived. If the alarm went off when her father was out in the garden she had been told to count the calls before calling out to him so that he would know where the fire was. Henry would then head off on his bike to answer the call. If the alarm went off at night her mother would stand at the window and wait and watch till her husband returned.