Willie Popata (Deputy Chief Fire Officer Ngunguru) who is an integral part of the organising of the annual Kamo Touch a Truck show, and is the Northland regional training manager for Fulton Hogan, got a bit of a surprise last month when his boss tapped him on the shoulder and told him they were off to Christchurch to attend the prestigious FH Good Work awards ceremony.

The Kamo and Ngunguru Volunteer Fire Brigades are part of a team of 14,000 firefighters and support personnel across New Zealand that are out there 24/7, 365 days a year.

Willie and Kamo Touch a Truck was a finalist in the Noho ora Tohu (People and Communities) awards category, with only eight categories for entry by over 6000 staff working in 30 regions/major projects.

There were four finalists from around the country, and with pictures of Hurupaki School on display up on the big screen, the winner was announced – Willie Popata from Northland for his community spirit in organising Kamo Touch a Truck.

 The community event has been running since 2016 and involves the coordination of the three emergency services – Fire, Police and St John as well as every bit of machinery not being actively used by Fulton Hogan staff.  Then Willie has to contend with parking up the trucks arriving by convoy into the school – 80 entries in 2024!

Congratulations to Willie for the well-deserved award, and to Fulton Hogan for its continued support for this event that raises money for the two volunteer organisations.

Kamo Touch a Truck 2025 Trucks and Displays

Online registration form to enter trucks into the convoy and the show are open.

“We are hoping to get back to our roots of being a community event that kids both big and small can get up close to,” the event organisers said.

“Fulton Hogan have again committed to getting some of their machinery to climb on, but we are really hoping to beef up the tractors & diggers with more tractors and more diggers, more graders and more equipment.

“Shout out to Hans and the team from Earthworx who have already committed to bringing up some of their gear for the show.”