Shortage of trucks ‘risky for fire crews’
Union decries the lack of specialised aerial units for fighting big blazes from above
Firefighters are having to take further unnecessary risks because there are not enough aerial trucks in the fleet to help fight big fires from above. So says the NZ Professional Firefighters Union, which wants more specialty trucks to be brought in rather than to continue risking lives of crews and, potentially, the public.
But Fire and Emergency said its fleet, including its aerial appliances, is “safe and suitable” for the job and the public’s safety is not at risk.
Area manager Geoff Purcell said aerial appliances are serviced regularly to ensure they are maintained to a high standard.
The union’s comments come after a huge blaze ripped through a scrap metal yard in Papakura, South Auckland, when up to 10 fire crews from around Auckland were called out just after 8am on Wednesday.
Three aerial appliances were sent out — two from Ellerslie and Parnell and the third from Te Atatu¯, West Auckland, the union said, while the other three aerial Auckland appliances are out of action.
One was damaged at the Waikeria Prison siege, the union said, and the other two were by coincidence damaged on the same day, including one at a station in Papatoetoe, which would have been the closest unit to respond to Wednesday’s fire.
The union’s Auckland local secretary, Martin Campbell, told the Herald firefighters on the scene were frustrated at the situation after one of the three aerial trucks responding broke down as they fought flames.
“We are barely managing with what we’ve got,” Campbell said.
“All three of [ the available] aerial appliances were at the fire in Papakura. If there was another incident that happened yesterday, we wouldn’t have been able to respond to it,” he said.
“We would’ve been screwed.” Had another aerial appliance been needed, the one in Hamilton would have been brought in — leaving that city vulnerable if a big fire happened at the same time too, he said.
Campbell said the union had stressed to Fire and Emergency the need to buy newer trucks or more aerial appliances to add to the fleet.
“Heavy aerials are the ones that rescue people and they are the vehicles that are used to extinguish the big fires from above or, in the Papakura situation, far-reaching.”
When an aerial appliance cannot come out to a scene, it means firefighters have to go deeper into a building, for example, to attack a fire — putting their lives further at risk, the union secretary said.
Campbell said a “significant investment” was needed from Fire and Emergency to build up its fleet.
Purcell said the fire body’s Auckland aerial appliances are less than 25 years old, the age limit for the appliances under its “Aerial Strategy”.
“Our national aerial replacement programme is currently on track and we have begun a project to acquire four new aerial appliances,” he said.
“If there had been another fire in the Auckland region that required an aerial appliance during the fire at Hunua Rd, we had plans to redeploy an aerial appliance if needed.
“As with all major incidents, we will be reviewing our response in the spirit of continuous improvement for the future.”