It's been revealed New Plymouth firefighters searching for occupants inside a burning house had to pull out when their hose failed on Friday.
New yellow 45mm flash flood fire hose, which firefighters had raised concerns about has now been recalled following a potentially dangerous incident in New Plymouth. (File photo). Photo: RNZ / Patrick Phelps
They have since banned that type of yellow hose and the ban is now spreading around the country's fire stations - with Fire and Emergency New Zealand managers on the hunt now for sturdier red hose to replace it.
The union warned FENZ in March the new type of hose appeared prone to puncturing.
A woman died in the house fire on Friday in New Plymouth - firefighters say the hose failure would not have altered that.
But local union vice president Rik Walsh said it jeopardised the two searching firefighters' safety and time was lost as they got out and replaced it.
The two went in with a low-pressure, 45mm hose, began searching rooms, then realised they had lost pressure.
"While they were inside the house they discovered that the hose had blown in two places, approximately eight metres back from where they were which meant they didn't have full firefighting or protective capability."
They left the house, got another hose and went back in, he said.
The Professional Firefighters' Union said the hose may have punctured on broken glass in the house - but the older, thicker hoses could stand up to that.
Rik Walsh suffered serious burns in a firefight long ago so he was not mucking around when he found out about the incident on Friday, especially as this type of hose had failed twice recently, though without jeopardising safety in those instances.
"Thirty years ago I got blown up, I have 30 percent of my body burnt," he told RNZ this afternoon.
"And what saved me and my partner was the integrity of the hose we were using then. So I know very well why we need to have water when we go into a burning building."
He made sure the New Plymouth station instigated a ban and pulled all the hoses off all its trucks - even the backups, which they had kept the new hose on even after the first two failures.
Walsh said New Plymouth did not have enough sturdier hose to go round all its backup trucks, but it would be on all frontline trucks and the public should not worry as firefighters would adapt.
The Professional Firefighters' Union has called for firefighters nationwide to get the hose off all trucks "where possible".
That was echoed in a FENZ email today seen by RNZ, which said the national manager equipment and logistics had ordered the yellow hose removed "where practicable".
"If not practicable, we need to know exactly where the hose is so it can be replaced when the next shipment of hose is available (ETA TBA)."
Any districts with a surplus of red 45mm "could help with filling gaps around the rest of the region until the next shipment arrives", the email said.
Call for investigation
An email alert at another brigade in the Hutt Valley reads, "Urgent safety notice ... this hose is defective and unsafe for use at this time."
National union secretary Wattie Watson said FENZ needed to investigate.
"We did raise concerns way back in March."
FENZ, in a national notice in March that RNZ has seen, said the new hose's "lighter weight is considered advantageous".
"A further evaluation confirmed that the hose can be punctured under conditions of lower pressures and being dragged while kinked, however, its performance is comparable to other hose in service."
However, it also said the hose would likely have a shorter operational life than some other brands.
Walsh said his crews had lost confidence in the hose.
"When you go into a burning building, it certainly is your safety net."
FENZ response
Fire and Emergency said the new hose was not unsafe but it was withdrawing it anyway.
"Because it is a lighter weight, low-pressure hose, it requires a different firefighting tactic to operate," deputy chief executive strategy and capability development Russell Wood said.
"It should not be excessively dragged while kinked, especially over rough or jagged ground. Its performance is comparable to other hose in service."
The hose conformed to international standards and was considered safe to use, Wood said.
However, "there is now a perception among some firefighters, that the hose is not sufficiently robust when compared to other brands of hose".
So FENZ was undertaking a managed withdrawal, depending on being able to replace it on trucks.
The lighter hose will be used for training, "where it can be operated under controlled conditions and under direct supervision in a low risk environment".