Fire and Emergency and the professional firefighters' union remain at odds over why it took 30 minutes for responders to reach last week's blaze at Northcote College.
It comes ahead of industrial action by firefighters later today.
The college would remain shut this week after fire destroyed the school's heritage-listed sports pavilion on Friday during the NZ Professional Firefighters Union's one-hour strike.
The union said the blaze was the latest example of a system stretched "to a fine line" by years of underinvestment, while FENZ said the delay was caused by strike action removing nearby crews from the network.
Dozens of firefighters are tackling the fire at Northcote College on Friday afternoon. (Source: 1News)
Another one-hour strike was scheduled for today.
Firefighters Union representative Josh Nicholls told Breakfast the conditions had pre-dated industrial action and were a symptom of an underinvested organisation.
"This risk sits here every day," he said, pointing to ageing trucks, equipment issues, staffing shortages and infrastructure faults.
He also said FENZ's contingency planning during industrial action was not sufficient.
"If that contingency isn’t adequate, that sits with management and the Government, not frontline firefighters."
Nichols said the strike exposed "how fine a line" the organisation already operates on.
Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said the union’s hour-long stoppage directly led to the delay in response.
"We are talking about an asset when we had paid firefighters just seven minutes away, and because of their strike, we had to bring in resources, and it took 30 minutes."
She said she had been warning for months that strike action would impact the community.
"We legally cannot pre-position volunteers into paid-firefighter areas during a strike — that would be seen as strike-breaking. So yes, we respond, but it will take longer."
She also pointed to a previous strike-hour fire in Pakuranga, where she said families lost homes and income.
Nicholls said firefighters were consistently the country's most trusted public sector organisation and that "[trust] isn't given, it's earned".
"If these trusted professionals are saying that the system is failing and that there is no other option left, then the public deserves to ask a very simple question, and that is why."
Stiffler argued the dispute was about pay, saying the union had rejected a 6.2% increase over three years and returned with a counter proposal "three times that amount".
“In the current environment, we have to put forward an offer we can sustain,” she said.
Nichols disagreed, saying the issues were "totally encompassing" — spanning equipment, staffing, and systemic failures beyond wages. Further strike action was scheduled between 12-1pm on February 23, February 27 and March 2.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a man is killed at Mar a Lago, and why Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s in the Louvre. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME