Firefighters had to ‘beg, borrow and steal’ kit during Auckland floods – union

A union leader has accused Fire and Emergency New Zealand management of being “caught with their pants down” during the Auckland Anniversary floods.

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union conducted an internal survey into Fenz’s response to the torrential rain that Tāmaki Makaurau saw on January 27.

“What we’re clearly hearing is that the whole response was ad hoc and unco-ordinated,” Auckland union secretary Martin Campbell told Stuff on Monday.

Despite the fact a local state of emergency wasn’t signed by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown until 9.27pm – and not publicly announced until 10.18pm – it was clear to those on the ground that firefighters and 111 dispatchers were “totally overwhelmed” by 5pm, Campbell said.

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At 5.07pm that Friday, every fire truck in the Auckland region was responding to calls where people were in imminent danger. By 8.24pm, dispatchers had received more than 1000 calls for assistance.

“We were stretched beyond our capabilities and knew we needed a local state of emergency to allow us to access Civil Defence’s support.

“Why then was a state of emergency not signed until 9.30pm? What was happening in that four-hour window? What more information were management waiting on to pass to mayor Brown?”

Despite responding to floods being one of Fenz’s “key functions”, Campbell said career firefighters didn’t have the equipment or uniform they needed to properly respond to the rising floodwaters.

“Our members had to beg, borrow and steal to get through the night.

“They just had to use what they could find – jet skis, kayaks, small boats – to get to members of the public who desperately needed their help,” he said.

On-duty firefighters only had rain jackets to keep them dry, which quickly became saturated with water.

They then had to pass on the drenched jackets to teams taking over, despite the fact they were “potentially contaminated by floodwater”.

Crews also had to fend for themselves when it came to getting food and water, and off-duty career firefighters weren’t called upon to help because they would have to be paid time and a half for working through their leave.

“Fenz is the organisation people call when they don’t know who else to call. We need to be ready for these kinds of emergencies.

“They say that they have contingencies in place for large-scale emergencies like this, but when it comes down to it, they don’t.”

Fenz National Commander Russell Wood said the organisation responded to an unprecedented flooding event on January 27, with the priority being safety for the people of Auckland and their own firefighters.

“Volunteer and career crews from across the city responded to the priority calls throughout the night and in the following days.”

Wood said he wouldn’t be commenting publicly on statements or activities undertaken by Fenz during the flooding, as they will be conducting a review of their response.

“Fire and Emergency has sought further information from the NZPFU regarding its survey, so it can be incorporated into our own operational review.”

The January 27 storm broke all previous rainfall records, caused devastation across the region and claimed four lives.