A historic change will be made when the NZ Fire Service ends and Fire and Emergency NZ takes its place.
The Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act, to be introduced on July 1, brings together the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, 12 enlarged rural fire districts and 26 territorial authority rural fire authorities. The 41-year-old Fire Services Act will be scrapped.
The legislation establishes a new organisation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), and sets out frameworks for dealing with the wider range of situations firefighters attend, including hazardous substance call outs, medical emergencies and car crashes, many of which were not covered by original legislation.
The Government approved extra funding of $303 million over four years from 2016/17 to create Fenz. The amalgamation will result in one of the country's largest organisations, with 14,100 people involved.