The firefighters' union says it has serious concerns about the deteriorating state of Auckland's frontline fleet of firetrucks and specialist appliances, which it believes is putting firefighters and the public at risk.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighers Union (NZPFU) said there had been numerous reports of firetrucks breaking down over the past few months.
The union's vice president Martin Campbell said on Friday night, a firetruck from the Avondale station broke down in the middle of a job, which meant the crew had to withdraw until a replacement truck became available.
He said the replacement truck itself had broken down about four times this past week.
"When the firetrucks are breaking down on the way to calls and at calls, that's when small fires can develop into big fires, and people's lives can be put at risk," Campbell said.
He said there was also a shortage of relief trucks, which were used when firetrucks were being serviced or repaired.
There was about seven relief trucks, which were not in a great state either, and there was not enough of them to stand in to support the day-to-day servicing of the fleet, he said.
"There have been situations where we've completely run out of firetrucks, and crews have had no firetrucks to staff," he said.
Campbell said they sometimes had to borrow trucks from Wellington or from volunteer stations, which left those communities under-resourced.
The union is calling for Fire and Emergency (FENZ) to urgently address these issues.
Campbell said while the FENZ had a project in place to replace the current fleet, it was not happening quickly enough.
He said last year four new trial trucks were brought in, but more than six months onwards, those trucks were still yet to be put into use.
"Those trial trucks are sitting at workshops unused at the moment, because there still needs some minor changes done to them to make them fit for purpose.
"There doesn't seem to be any real urgency from the organisation to adapt those firetrucks to make them suitable, to put them on frontline service and to get them on the road," he said.
Campbell said those four trucks could be useful as backup trucks during the process of replacing the old firetrucks.
He said while the union had raised these issues with FENZ, the wheels were turning too slow to the point of "dysfunction".
"It's just talk and talk and talk, and not enough action at the end of the day," he said.
FENZ's regional manager for Auckland and Northland Ron Devlin said FENZ had an ongoing replacement programme for appliances.
Devlin said they were also in the process of purchasing four new 32 metres heavy aerial trucks and one new 44 metres aerial truck.
He said there was also a programme underway to purchase new Type 3 firetrucks, which were the predominant type used by career firefighters.
"The four Type 3 trucks that were trailed will undergo further modifications before going to their new homes," he said.
Devlin said FENZ maintained its fleet to a high standard and service them regularly.
All of the relief firetrucks were maintained in a "fully operational state", he said.
Devlin said FENZ maintained more than 1280 fire trucks and specialist response vehicles.
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