Fire and Emergency New Zealand have reassured the public they were adequately staffed and equipped to tackle the Loafers Lodge fire earlier this week — but their ageing fleet does bring "challenges", according to chief executive Kerry Gregory.
It comes amid questions over the trucks and appliances available in Wellington for high-rise buildings.
Newtown's 32m-long ladder truck was out of service on Tuesday, having spent just 45 days in operation since July 2020, RNZ reported today. That truck was replaced with a 17m-long ladder truck at the fire, Gregory said.
"I want to reassure people we had the people and specialist equipment required for the Loafer's Lodge fire," Gregory said this morning.
"We dispatched 33 trucks, over 80 firefighters, from all over Wellington, for the duration of that event.
"This is how we respond to incidents of that magnitude."
However, he added that, while FENZ has invested considerably in rebuilding and refurbishing fire stations and purchasing new trucks and specialist equipment since it was established in 2017, it does face challenges with ageing fleet and stations that are not fit for purpose.
Twenty-seven per cent of New Zealand's fire trucks are beyond their target asset life of 20 to 25 years.
"The legacy condition of many of our inherited stations and appliances varied significantly from fit-for-purpose vehicles to those barely safe for use," Gregory said.
New details have also emerged of what occurred before the fatal fire. (Source: 1News)
"While there have been improvements in the stations and appliances since then, significant effort, time and investment is still required to modernise our out-of-date fleet and neglected property.
"Fire and Emergency has a 20-year capital budget forecast of more than $2.9 billion to improve and replenish main assets.
"Based on our current forecast income, we can only afford $2 billion.
"The Board of Fire and Emergency New Zealand is looking at options and mechanisms for funding this $900 million shortfall."
He stressed that FENZ is proud of the work its firefighters did battling the blaze "in extremely dangerous circumstances".
"We are also committed to increasing career firefighter numbers to reduce the reliance on overtime and to maintain staffing levels for response," he said.
"I want to reassure the public... Fire and Emergency is available and capable of responding to incidents to keep New Zealand communities safe."
Gregory also discussed firefighters' safety when tackling the fire.
"When they arrived, it wasn't about the aerials, it was about making sure they got people out of those buildings.
"Our firefighters went into the building to conduct rescues, and the officer that was first in charge, when I was talking to him the other day, he made a conscious decision that it was too dangerous at a particular stage to go into the next floor.
"And that's what I would expect of our officers, to make sure not only that the public are safe but our firefighters are safe."
Gregory said most firefighters won't attend a fatal fire in their whole career, let alone a multi-fatality blaze.
SHARE ME