The wife of one of the firefighters killed in a landslide in Muriwai during Cyclone Gabrielle says the two men "made the best decisions they could", following the release of a report this morning.
Volunteer firefighters Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg were investigating a flooded property on February 13 when a landslide caused the house to collapse.
Stevens was rescued but died three days later in hospital. Van Zwanenberg's body was recovered 35 hours after the landslide.
The report, released today, concluded FENZ's risk management systems did not identify landslides as a hazard that could harm its firefighters. This resulted in a lack of landslide-related procedures and training for firefighters.
In a statement, van Zwanenberg's wife, Amy, said her husband and other firefighters made the "best decisions they could with the information and training they had available to them at the time".
"They had not taken any unnecessary risks and were unaware of their imminent danger."
She said the conditions on the night made it "near impossible" to predict the hazards of the site but hopes lessons can be learnt from the tragedy.
"Dave and Craig were tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.
Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg were killed when a slip destroyed a house in the coastal Auckland community. (Source: 1News)
Amy thanked all those involved in the search and rescue operation for her husband, calling them "exceptional and courageous".
"I will forever be deeply grateful for this cavalry of heroes and what they did under extreme circumstances.
"There is an odd comfort in knowing with certainty that there was nothing they could have done differently to save my husband."
The report recommended FENZ review its policy and procedures to lift firefighter awareness of landslides and the warning signs of an imminent landslide. It also recommended FENZ review its critical risk management programme.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand chief executive Kerry Gregory said work is already underway to address them.
"Fire and Emergency is a close whānau, and this continues to be an awful reminder of the risks our firefighters can be exposed to on any given day," Gregory said.
"This investigation was not conducted to attribute fault, blame or liability for what happened. It was undertaken to ensure Fire and Emergency can learn from this catastrophic event and to reduce the risk of something like this happening in the future," he said.
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