Fire and Emergency are celebrating the completion of two new fire stations in Christchurch.
The opening of the Christchurch City and Sumner stations marks the end of a multi-million-dollar earthquake rebuild programme.
"It's been a fantastic, fantastic couple of days," said Fire and Emergency CEO Kerry Gregory.
"I take my hat off to them and I am so pleased that this is open here," said Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger.
Sumner Fire Station and Christchurch City Fire Station are the newest on the block - and they have been built to world-class standards.
"It's really in the design that's the main thing. It allows our firefighters to come in from dirty areas and have clean areas. When they come in with carcinogens on their clothing it means they don't infect through the whole station," said Gregory.
The Government contributed more than $14 million towards the rebuilds - which topped $18 million.
"What Christchurch City now has is a structurally sound, highly-functional and innovative facility that will be a focal point of this city for many decades to come," said Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds.
It has been years in the making with crews operating out of temporary stations in the interim.
Addressing the gathered guests at the Christchurch City Fire Station opening, Edmonds said: "Your patience has paid off with the development of this really superb four-bay, 12-bedroom facility."
Both fire stations are completely new buildings, built on the existing sites of the original buildings damaged in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
"We build our fire stations to these standards, so that they'll be strong through different emergencies just like our firefighters who respond for us," said Gregory.
