Auckland's central fire station has ground to a standstill on Friday evening, with staff and vehicles unable to enter the building.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) said asbestos had been found at the Pitt Street station and, as a result, crews were receiving precautionary decontamination.
Fire and Emergency NZ confirmed there was a second alarm "substance attendance" at the station.
NZPFU vice president Martin Campbell said the fire station would be closed and the specialist firetrucks based there unavailable, pending testing to confirm the building was free of asbestos.
"This is a developing situation and we hope to have more information later, however this raises once again, many questions of Fire and Emergency policy and procedures, and its executive management and leadership that can allow this to happen."
Fire crews on site, after reports of asbestos contamination at the Pitt Street fire station in central Auckland. Photo: Finn Blackwell
Campbell said the union would ask more questions in coming days.
Crews rostered on for Saturday have been instructed to report for duty at regional headquarters, adjacent to the station in Poynton Terrace.
In a statement, FENZ Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said testing had revealed the unexpected asbestos.
"Fire and Emergency New Zealand is disappointed to learn of the positive results for asbestos in dust samples at our Pitt Street Station in Auckland as a result of testing in July 2025. This is a result we were not expecting.
"However, we have no reason to believe that there has been any further spread of asbestos beyond the initial rooms since it was removed in September 2024."
Precautionary air monitoring and swab testing around the station had been arranged and testing would take place on Saturday, Stiffler said.
"The safety and wellbeing of our firefighters is of the utmost importance to us and the station has been closed."
Firefighters in hazmat suits outside the station. Photo: Finn Blackwell
Not the first time asbestos found in building
Asbestos was found in the roof of the same station two years ago, which caused the station to close for tests and decontamination.
WorkSafe at the time said it regarded the asbestos as of "a high-risk nature".
The station had to be largely shut for almost three weeks.
In 2021, WorkSafe assessed Auckland fire stations for asbestos, and asked for surveys and management plans, but it remains unclear where these checks got to.
FENZ's 2021/22 annual report referred to asbestos once: "We... successfully managed our maintenance and modernisation programmes, which includes... asbestos management."
St John was also at the scene. Photo: Finn Blackwell
The incident also comes just two days after a firetruck became stuck on Auckland's Ponsonby Rd, after breaking down on its way to a fire.
The firetruck had to be towed.
Earlier this month, RNZ also reported that new fire trucks could not be used at rescues, as they were too small to fit all the lifesaving gear they needed to carry.
Fire and Emergency said it was "not ideal", but it was working on a solution. In the meantime, delivery of the trucks has been disrupted.
