Papakura scrap yard fire: Auckland's aerial appliance fleet 'in crisis' – union
Thursday, 14 January 2021
There were no aerial appliances available in Auckland for other incidents during a fire at a scrap metal yard in Papakura on Wednesday, according to a union.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) said aerial appliances were needed due to the scale of the fire.
However, two were out of commission due to mechanical issues and no relief appliances were available.
The three available aerial appliances in the city attended, and a fourth appliance in Hamilton was put on standby in case, a media release from the union said.
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The fire broke out at Global Metal Solutions on Hunua Rd, Papakura, about 8am on Wednesday, sending plumes of smoke billowing across the suburb into the afternoon and triggering a health alert for nearby residents.
Residents were warned to stay indoors, but after the smoke died down in the afternoon, the emergency alert was stopped.
The union said if there had been another large fire in the Auckland region, the nearest available specialist aerial appliance would have had to come from Hamilton – a one and a half hour drive.
“It’s incredibly concerning that it only takes one incident to highlight the deficiencies and lack of foresight that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) seems to have towards fleet management.
“FENZ has absolutely no redundancy left to safely manage more than one significant incident occurring at once in New Zealand’s largest and most populous city.”
The spokesperson said the union had been working to get one of the broken aerial appliances back into commission and available for response as soon as possible.
Martin Campbell, the union’s Auckland local secretary, said the issue had been going on for years and was highlighted during the SkyCity Convention Centre fire.
During that blaze, neither of Auckland's two tallest frontline fire fighting appliances was available to immediately respond because maintenance had fallen behind, the union said.
“We were promised something would be done and more funding would be put towards improving the fleet, but we’re still waiting.
“There’s been no timeline made, and a complete lack of urgency.
“It’s putting the public’s safety at risk and something needs to be done.”
Counties Manukau fire area commander Geoff Purcell said if there had been another fire in the Auckland region which required an aerial appliance during the fire, FENZ had plans to redeploy one if needed.
“As with all major incidents, we will be reviewing our response in the spirit of continuous improvement for the future.”
Purcell said its aerial appliances were serviced regularly to ensure they are maintained to a high standard.
He said the appliances were less than 25 years old, which was the age limited identified in its “Aerial Strategy”.
“Our national aerial replacement programme is currently on track, and we have begun a project to acquire four new aerial appliances.”