Murray Forward - Murray’s your man

Arrowtown Fire Chief Murray Forward would pretty much do anything for his community. In almost 30 years in the volunteer brigade, much of that at the helm, Murray’s been on hand at countless community fundraising events, even dancing naked on-stage, all in aid of a good cause, fireman’s helmet appropriately positioned of course.

He’s been officer then deputy chief, serving the last half of his time as fire chief.

Murray’s even been the local Wakatipu sexton for about 10 years while co-owning Base Contracting, laying people to rest across the basin: ‘Everybody’s dying to see you,” he quips.

Together with a few mates he even re-founded the recessed Arrowtown Rugby Club back in 1989 after the boys needed to cobble together a team to play Queenstown and Glenorchy in the local triangle tournament.

Many a local bus trip was endured over the years, playing as far away as Middlemarch and Patearoa, and married to an original Buckingham Belle Murray reckons he’s done more than the “odd Tour of Duty” in the Autumn Festival Beard Growing Competition and at festival concerts.

It’s been the brighter moments like these that have helped him through the “heartbreaking and soul-destroying” ones in his 28 years of volunteer fire service. In more recent years that’s included some pretty horrific First Responder callouts to accidents, family tragedies and medical events as well, Murray and his team throwing their 100% support behind the bid to secure ACC compensation for volunteer firefighters that’s currently before Parliament.

The son of early Royal Oak publican Peter Forward, Murray’s family moved to Arrowtown from Dunedin in 1966 when he was five. “I loved it, a town of about 150 people then. Often you wouldn’t see a car down the main street all day,” he says. “I’d sit outside the pub as a kid watching the tar run off the centre of the road into the gutter, the only tarseal in town.” Winters were much colder, skating at the Nairn Street then Bush Creek rinks from Queens Birthday until Labour Weekend.

Trapping possums to sell the skins was a great pocket money earner and by eight Murray was off as a boarder to John Maglashan College in Dunedin playing age group rugby, and possibly cricket and athletics, on all of which he remains coy: “I did alright.”

Grandma provided a great roast on Sundays and back home in summer Murray was on duty helping at the by now pumping Royal Oak Garden Bar his parents developed in the late 1970s, hugely popular with New Year’s revellers. “It was ludicrous in there at times.”

At 18 Murray joined the NZ Forest Service as a woodsman cadet training near Dunedin, then based in Te Anau working extensively in silverculture then environmental forestry as a pest control shooter. That included deer culling then live recovery out of helicopters throughout Fiordland.

“There’s only one fiord I never got to – George Sound. I just stood on the top and looked in.”

It was rugged country, Murray once falling down a steep bluff snapping the stock of his rifle and badly injuring his knee. “There were no radios then and it took me about eight hours to get back to the hut.”

Accumulated leave was spent crayfishing with a mate for weeks on end.

During five years working as farmhand on Glencoe Station on the Crown Range Murray met wife of 38 years Jan-Marie Lloyd at the Royal Oak. Ironically her dad, Bill Lloyd, had bought the Royal Oak soon after the Forwards sold to DB.

They married in 1988 working hard to buy their first house, Murray then working for Tony Faulks at Faulks Contracting.

Jan-Marie, a legal secretary, helped them found the Arrowtown Rugby Club, the Royal Oak their clubrooms and her dad their first coach, Arrowtown bringing home the White Horse Cup in their second or third year.

It was 1998 before then Fire Chief Richard Jackson suggested Murray join, then sent for training out of town, already having a bit of rural firefighting experience on board from his Forest Service days.

“Our wives and families make a lot of sacrifices, something that’s often not acknowledged. They take a lot of hits. We’ll be sitting down to a family dinner and I’m away, or plan to go somewhere and we can’t go as I’m off to fire calls.” There have even been holidays delayed. “Fire Chief is 24/7, but it’s never rattled me.” He admits to on occasions back in the day “rushing into the walk-in wardrobe and doing a few circles” when the siren’s gone off while having a few beers with his mates. “Everything’s a lot more professional now.”

Murray was awarded his prestigious Gold Star by FENZ in 2023, quite an honour.

He’s now sold all his shares in Base Contracting which he owned with Trojan Holdings, “winding down” at 65. “I just work when I want to now.” And while there may not be any more risqué exposés on the Arrowtown Hall stage from Murray he’s not stepping back from the community service he loves. “We do all the fire engine rides, a lot of calls to the elderly in Arrowtown, and we’re always at community events. That’s part and parcel of being a fireman,” he says.