Source: Radio New Zealand
The NZPFU said crews were happy to work with another truck if one was provided (file image). RNZ / Paris Ibell
Hutt Valley firefighters have placed a ban on a fire truck they say broke down at a building fire on Friday.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union (NZPFU) has issued Fire and Emergency (FENZ) with a cease-to-work notice.
This comes while a parliamentary inquiry into the state of FENZ’s fleet is beginning.
The truck went to a fire in Petone just after midnight, but its pump failed, the notice said.
The same truck’s pump failed in 2023 forcing firefighters to get out of a burning dairy.
Friday’s notice referred to “multiple faults”.
“Operators have serious concerns as to the abilities of this piece of plant and its reliability,” the union told FENZ.
“Evidence of multiple faults/issues with this appliance are detailed and recorded. We therefore believe the operation of the appliance puts workers in a position of imminent exposure to hazards and any operator is placed in a position of potential serious risk.”
Crews were happy to work with another truck if one was provided, it said, calling for immediate consultation with FENZ and a plan.
The truck was based at Seaview station which covered more of the southern Hutt Valley than before after the Hutt City station was closed five years ago with black mould.
Work safety laws allow a health and safety representative to direct unsafe work to cease.
FENZ has repeatedly said it had a fleet management plan and a replacement strategy, though it has also said it does not have enough funding for a quick overhaul of the older parts of its fleet of over a thousand vehicles.
FENZ has been approached for comment.
Fleet inquiry, changing levy
Two MPs triggered a select committee inquiry into the fleet this month after a clash with FENZ leaders at a hearing in March.
One of the two, National’s Tim Costley castigated FENZ at a committee hearing last month for multiple contradictory answers over several months about whether 30 fire trucks were on the job or not.
The trucks were ordered years ago but after some suffered cracks had to be redesigned, then FENZ chose to build them in the UK, and not all were in service yet.
“I am increasingly concerned by the fleet issues within FENZ that continue to provide more questions than answers, and by the confusing and contradictory nature of those answers,” Costley said previously.
The second MP, the Green Party’s Mike Davidson, wrote in March about truck breakdowns and how stations “like Hutt City have been closed due to asset condition and remain closed several years later. The closure of stations increases the number of people and property that reside outside of FENZ standard response time and therefore at an increased risk.”
Davidson, in his call for an inquiry, noted how FENZ officials had at select committee hearings mentioned other parties who had not had the same opportunity to be heard and should be.
Costley’s colleague and Hutt South MP Chris Bishop weighed in online, “I am v concerned about the performance of FENZ. Not our fire fighters who do a great job, but the issues around the fleet are real and the public deserve answers
However, the government in 2024 cut back the increases sought by FENZ to the insurance levy that provides nearly all its almost $800m revenue.
It then told FENZ to save $50m a year.
In response the agency last November embarked on a restructure to cut 140 non-firefighting jobs and change 700 roles in total.
It has delayed final decisions on restructuring after two unions’ challenge over the nature of the consultation was upheld.
The levy structure is set to change a lot in July and FENZ has said it has to adapt to the levy revenue becoming unpredictable for the first time since it was set up almost a decade ago.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
