Patea Bacon Man                                                                                                                            

Grant Hurley specialises in bacon – making it and saving other people’s.

Many visitors to Pātea will meet him as the quietly-spoken butcher who sells old-style dry cured bacon and specialty smallgoods.

Some, however, will come across him in his role as Pātea’s chief fire officer, leading the crews at emergencies ranging from car crashes to house fires and floods.

He grew up at Hurleyville and took up butchery after finishing at Pātea High School, and a couple of years later joined the volunteer fire brigade.

Hurley has been doing both roles for about the same length of time. “I’ve been doing it [firefighting] for 30 years, nearly as long as I’ve been a butcher. I’ve been the chief fire officer for 12 years.”

1:35   Filmed by STUFF 2018                                                                              19/8/23

1:35                                                    filmed by STUFF 2018