The NT Fire Service will crew the Humpty Doo fire station during the day seven days a week over the Dry, relying on staff to do overtime to cover the weekend shifts, while the move was welcomed by some firefighters as a “positive start”, the union said the station needed to be permanently staffed for rural area residents’ safety.

Weekend staffing began last Saturday but sources told the NT Independent there was a shortage of firefighters on Sunday, so the station did not open on the second day of the plan.

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