Some firefighters say they have been working 100 hours a week because of staff shortages.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Overtime and staffing issues are just two of the many concerns that led members of the Firefighter's Union to begin a strike last month, asking for better and safer work conditions.
New Plymouth senior station officer Jason Crowe said in order to attend all emergency calls, some firefighters had done well above their contracted hours.
"We've got some firefighters throughout the organisation that are working 80 to 100 hours per week, which is well above their normal 42 hours.
"And that's just trying to maintain the minimum staffing levels. Whilst we get remuneration for this [it] results in extra stress in personal and excessive time spent at work.
"This is just not sustainable as a long term solution," he said.
In May, a hose burst in a house on fire - delaying the response of the fire crew.
Crowe was a firefighter on the day of the fatal accident.
"It just burst unannounced. At the time the hose was on carpet and it burst in two separated places about four, five metres from where we were standing at the time."
The equipment was not fit for purpose and compromised tactics when dealing with an emergency, he said.
"While the hose failure would not have altered the outcome of the fatality, the hoses bursting in two places definitely compromised crew safety and required us to have to have the hose replaced - which obviously wasted time.
"It takes our focus off what it should be [on] and require us to shut the water down because the firefighting delivery was no longer effective."
The lack of trust in the equipment was not the only issue raised by the union.
Crowe said firefighters were not offered enough mental health support after critical emergency calls.
"Since 2013 we have been attending more and more medical calls, and these are traumatic incidents that definitely impact on firefighter's mental health. And that can be a range of incidents, like suicides and shootings."
Aged fire trucks were also a concern.
Trucks used by Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) were more than 30 years old and not fit for purpose, Crowe said.
He said the number of vehicles waiting for repair sometimes meant trucks from other locations had to be used, delaying the response to emergency callouts.
"And it's disappointing and demotivating," he said.
The NZ Professional Firefighters' Union said it was working on a process to re-engage constructively in collective bargaining with Fire and Emergency NZ.
Onehunga Fire Station closed due to staff shortages in June. Photo: Supplied / Facebook
FENZ response
In a statement, Fire and Emergency said some personnel occasionally worked long hours and like many organisations, it had recently been impacted by absences due to Covid-19.
FENZ said it had a Fatigue Management Policy, which set out the obligations that all personnel (career and volunteer) and their supervisors had to monitor and manage the risks of fatigue.
It was confident it had sufficient firefighters around the country to keep communities safe.
A career recruitment course was held from 10 January until 1 April, and 21 new recruits were trained, it said.
A course was scheduled for the fourth quarter of the 2021/22 financial year but was delayed subject to resourcing decisions. It would now run from late June until mid- September, with a further course planned for September. These courses would be run for up to 30 recruits each, rather than the usual 24.
FENZ said it recognised that responding to emergencies could be psychologically demanding and provided a tiered framework of support services for its staff - as well as tools and training.
The support available included free counselling, professional psychological support, peer support, dedicated safety health and wellbeing advisors and welfare officers, a health monitoring programme, chaplaincy, and Tikanga Māori-based services. Counselling was also available to the immediate family members of firefighters for any reason that they may need it.
FENZ denied trucks and appliances were 30 years old.
It said since the newest of each model were deployed to the busiest stations, very few of the appliances over 30 years old were used by paid firefighters and, of those appliances that were, most were relief appliances which were only used to cover times when operational appliances were being serviced.
A project was underway to purchase new appliances of the type predominantly used by paid firefighters, it said, and the first trial appliances were expected to be received by the end of the calendar year.
The fleet was regularly maintained to ensure it could respond to emergencies, FENZ said.
*This interview was given to RNZ prior to the joint agreement between FENZ and the union not to engage in media interviews about the issues to be progressed through the collective bargaining process.