The fire truck which broke down in central Auckland this morning. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union, via Facebook
A fire truck froze up on the job in central Auckland this morning, forcing a firefighter to escape the ladder basket high in the air.
The breakdown disrupted traffic but did not stop the crew dealing with a smouldering air conditioning unit atop a building at the corner of Customs and Queen streets.
Firefighters' union officer Martin Campbell, who was on the job, said the truck broke down without warning, though it has frozen up before on other jobs.
"The firefighter is completely stuck in the basket. He's about five storeys up in the airs, unable to move up or down," Campbell told RNZ.
"He has to climb out onto the emergency escape ladder, climb down that on the outside back down to the ground.
"There's a risk of falling because you have to disconnect yourself from the harness."
No one was hurt.
However, the freeze-up reduced the crew's options for checking what was wrong, after a strong smell of burning was noticed, said Campbell, who was inside the building trying to find the problem at the time.
"If it had of [sic] actually been a proper fire, we wouldn't have had that ability to get quick access to the roof ... we'd have had to drag all the hose up manually."
Rush-hour traffic had to drive around the truck, which was broken down from around 7.30am for about 45 minutes.
The failure cuts Auckland's 32-metre-ladder truck capability in half - they have one other.
A relief truck which could ordinarily be called had been bound for Hamilton, which was itself short of ladder cover, Campbell said.
The breakdown is the latest for what FENZ says is an "ageing" but neverthless basically reliable fleet.
Large truck breakdowns have been under scrutiny because one of two large-ladder trucks in Wellington was unable to go to the Loafers Lodge fire last week due to being broken down for months.
Campbell said the truck that froze today, which is based at City Station - itself disrupted due to multiple asbestos discoveries - had a track record of problems and was years overdue for a 10-yearly rebuild of its ladder components.
"How do we stop this stuff from happening again?" he asked.
FENZ said the "issue" did not impact on its response, "as it occurred after the site was handed back to the building owners and the crew was preparing to return to the station".
The truck had since been extensively tested with no fault found.
"We will nevertheless be replacing the load sensor," said District Manager Vaughan Mackereth.
Auckland was still staffed with an aerial with a 32m ladder, and another with a ladder on a turntable which is usually used as a backup vehicle.
