Safety fears amid Fire and Emergency New Zealand proposed restructure

Friday, 18 October 2019

Career firefighters fear lives will be at risk if a proposed Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) restructure that could see volunteers at the helm of operations goes ahead.

Consultation on the proposal ended on Friday, but unions have until Monday to make submissions for members.

The NZ Professional Firefighters Union has amassed about 1000 submissions in opposition to the proposals, which it says will decimate rank structures, and could see fire chiefs taking command at incidents without the current required experience.

Union secretary Joanne Watson said allowing people from rural fire backgrounds to be appointed senior managers would put the public and firefighters at risk.

'The bulk of them have never been to an urban fire in their lives, but FENZ is giving them preference.'

NZ Professional Firefighters Union secretary Joanne 'Wattie' Watson is sounding the alarm about wide-ranging proposed changes to Fire and Emergency NZ.

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FENZ, formed from the amalgamation two years ago of the Fire Service and dozens of rural fire authorities, said the proposals were about improving efficiency by preventing managers from doubling up on areas of responsibility.

It declined to release the more than 100-page proposal document under the Official Information Act before the consultation period ended, but in a copy obtained by Stuff, FENZ chief executive Rhys Jones acknowledged the proposals were far reaching and would be a significant change.

His forwarding address emphasised there would be no changes to how stations and brigades operate, and that FENZ was committed to 'the principle of the most suitably qualified or trained person being in charge of incidents – this does not and will not change'.

However one proposal shows a principal rural fire officer - a senior rural firefighter likely to specialise in large scrub fires but unlikely to have urban house fire experience - would be assigned the rank of chief officer and hold the position of district manager.

FENZ deputy chief executive service delivery Kerry Gregory said the proposed changes were about having the right people for the right job and disputed Watson's claims of safety risks.

'We're not going to put a rural person in charge of a major structure fire.'

The NZ Professional Firefighters Union fears managers without urban or structural firefighting experience could be placed in charge of operations.

Fire and Emergency NZ deputy chief executive service delivery Kerry Gregory

Supportive of the changes is United Fire Brigades Association chief executive officer Bill Butzbach, who said his mainly volunteer membership had previously felt like second class citizens to career firefighters.

There are about 1700 career firefighters in New Zealand, compared to almost 12,000 volunteers.

The nature of the job had changed, he said, thanks to fewer structure fires combined with more vegetation fires due to climate change - and a huge spike in medical calls which lead Butzbach to characterise FENZ as 'not really a fire service any more'.

'FENZ listens to us, we've got a voice we've never had before. We're pretty confident with the proposals for managers. Managers don't put out fires - people in fire engines do.'