Bus fire breaks out in Stokes Valley amid firefighter strike

A large fire which broke out on Eastern Hutt Rd amid a fire fighters strike has been extinguished.

Fire and Emergency NZ was alerted to the two buses on fire on Eastern Hutt Rd in Taita, Lower Hutt, at 11.08am this morning - eight minutes into industrial strike action by New Zealand's professional firefighters.

Four volunteer trucks from Stokes Valley, Seaview and Trentham responded to find two buses alight on the side of the road by the New Zealand Coach Service site and extinguished the fire.

They said the buses were in a carpark on the property but they have no clue how they caught fire.

Large fire breaks out on Eastern Hutt Road near Stokes Valley during Firefighter strike action this morning. @NewsFlashNZ @NewstalkZB pic.twitter.com/cmrMOtX1kq

— Sean Hogan (@SeanHoganNZ) August 19, 2022

The fire comes amid industrial action for all New Zealand firefighters covered by the union.

All career fire stations, training centres and 111 fire communications centres have stopped work for one hour from 11am to midday on August 19.

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has previously said there is "a fire crisis", with FENZ failing to employ sufficient career firefighters and 111 emergency call centre dispatchers to meet minimum staffing.

This has resulted, the NZPFU said, in the closure of some career stations, fire trucks have been taken offline and firefighters are riding in unsafe short-crews to keep the fire trucks responding.