This photo was taken in the hours after the deadly landslide. Photo / Fire and Emergency New Zealand
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
A large landslide had just come down at the Mount Maunganui campground, hitting about 30 campsites and engulfing the amenities block which included toilets, showers and laundry facilities.
It was about 9.30am on January 22 when the first calls alerted emergency services to the unfolding tragedy.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s specialist urban search and rescue (USAR) team was en route to reports of a landslide into a house in Pāpāmoa when the call came in.
The squad was diverted to the scene.
On arrival its members were faced with a “rapidly evolving situation”, according to documents released to RNZ.
“Members of the public and other emergency service responders were working with hand and power tools trying to rescue people who were trapped. Initial reports stated they could hear people calling for help from the rubble …” a report says.
“Due to the unstable scene and risk of further landslide a decision was made to clear the site of all people and create a ‘hard reset’.”
The urban search and rescue team’s operations began after three “spotters” were put in place to monitor the slip, firstly with a “line and hail search” at 10.40am, followed by a search with a police dog.
“The search did not hear any voices, but the dog provided several positive ‘hits’, which were marked.”
The squad’s operations continued to grow as heavy machinery and further personnel arrived on scene. About 48 hours later the operation went from rescue to recovery.
Nearly 200 pages of correspondence and briefings released to RNZ by Fire and Emergency New Zealand under the Official Information Act, reveal the inside story of the first two days on the ground.
Just over two hours after the landslide struck, Fire and Emergency commander William Pike sent an email to Karne Gough, the president of the Tauranga branch of the Professional Firefighters Union.
The email had three subheadings, each with their own bullet points.
Pike wrote that there had been a “significant landslip” at the Mount and there was a rescue operation underway.
“This is an active and evolving incident, and information may change as assessments continue.
“Our priority is life safety, followed by scene stabilisation and risk management.”
The team was on scene to provide specialist search, rescue and technical assessment capability.
“USAR is trained to operate in unstable ground, structural collapse, and complex rescue environments.”
In relation to safety messaging, Pike said the area was “dangerous and unstable”.
“We ask the public to stay well clear of cordons and follow instructions from emergency services.
“Unauthorised access could place lives at risk and delay rescue efforts.”
Under “closing line”, Pike said it was a “complex and high-risk environment”.
“Our teams are taking a careful, methodical approach to ensure the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe.”
Later that afternoon an email was sent regarding Fire and Emergency and USAR’s safety briefing and operational summary.
The operational phase was “delayering and victim location”.
“USAR crews are conducting systematic delayering operations using machinery and hand tools to locate multiple trapped victims. The site presents ongoing risks due to structural instability, secondary collapse potential, and machinery movement.”
Three safety officers had been sent to the scene fulltime with authority to stop work. A geotechnical engineer was also on site providing structural assessment and guidance.
An email was also sent with aerial photographs of the landslide.
That evening Fire and Emergency’s national co-ordination centre sent out a situation report on severe weather around the country including the incident in Mt Maunganui.
The report said the urban search and rescue team and police were searching for persons “unaccounted for”.
“The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete.”
The following morning USAR requested that the emergency management assistance team, also known as EMAT, be sent to the scene to assist.
At 9am on January 23 - almost 24 hours after the landslide - Fire and Emergency issued a plan for the next nine hours.
It said that while under a declared state of emergency the National Emergency Management Agency took the lead, Fire and Emergency was leading operations on the site, working closely with the agency, iwi, police, St John and other parties.
“Fire and Emergency will carry out rescue operations across the impacted area, with an emphasis on ensuring the safety of responders, members of the public and those affected.
“At which point the incident is to be declared a recovery mission, fire and emergencies mission will not change.”
At 10.30am there was a multi-agency meeting. Minutes from the meeting said the police’s disaster victim identification (DVI) team was “good to go”.
Civil Defence were putting a drone up to assess the area and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was due on the ground at 1pm.
The minutes also included a line that they were “talking about transitioning from rescue 2 recovery”.
Another multi-agency meeting was scheduled for 2.45pm.
At about 2.30pm, national USAR operations manager Matt Alphors sent an email to colleagues to tell them what was happening and acknowledged the “exceptional work that has been completed to date”.
Operations on the ground were conducted on eight-hour rotations, working across three sectors on site - called sector 1, sector 2, and sector 3.
“I want to acknowledge the effort across all deployable capabilities involved in this response. The long hours, sleepless nights, and arduous conditions have been significant, and the professionalism, teamwork, and output to date has been outstanding.
“I have arrived on the ground at Mt Maunganui and can report the tempo remains high and progress is exceptional.”
Alphors said plans were to “transition into the next phase of the incident within the next 24 hours”.
He said it was anticipated the incident could continue for several days.
“With that in mind, we are planning to stand down selected teams outside of Mount Maunganui to maintain coverage, rotations and ensure we can sustain operations safely over the coming period.”
That afternoon a senior media adviser at Fire and Emergency emailed police and St John media teams about the plan for the weekend.
“We are wanting to firm up how the process from rescue to recovery at Mount Maunganui will play out. Police - I assume it would be an announcement at your end once the decision has been made? Have you heard anything to suggest when this might be? Once that happens I assume we will look at referring most media queries through to you?”
In response, a staffer from the police media team said that once it was declared that a recovery phase had commenced, police would lead proactive and reactive comms.
“But obviously we would continue to work together to share messaging as is our usual process.
“I’m unsure when it might move to recovery but I understand this was likely the last night that they would work through. Potentially tomorrow, then.”
At 4am on January 24, Fire and Emergency’s Bay of Plenty district group manager Paul Glanville sent an update to colleagues.
He said the rescue phase continued, with the slip area continuing to “show signs of instability”.
Work had stopped on sector 1 on the evening of January 23 due to a small landslide and a “high risk of further subsidence”.
Crews were continuing to clear sector 2 and 3 as an alternative pathway to the ablution block. A section of the corner of the block was reached at 3am.
Fire and Emergency’s plan for January 24 gave an overview of what had happened to date.
The primary hazards in the immediate aftermath of the slip were ongoing ground instability and the potential for a secondary slip as well as live electricity and gas on site.
“And members of the public who were working with hand tools including a chainsaw to reach people trapped.”
The situation report listed several factors including site stability, responder safety and search and survivability.
“Extent of collapse, burial depth, and technical assessment of survivable voids informing rescue feasibility.”
In relation to the transition from rescue to recovery, the report said there was a “clear agreed transition based on confirmation of deceased and/or determination that no survivable voids remain”.
Under the heading “predicted incident development” heading, the report said the area of concern that had not been fully accessed or cleared was the ablution block. The area was currently “unworkable”.
“Depending on an engineer’s assessment and ongoing favourable weather conditions we hope to be able to recommence operations in Sector 1 today. Operations will continue in Sectors 2 and 3 in an effort to clear those sectors.
“An outcome of reaching the ablution block will be the determination of when we move to the recovery phase.”
Once they entered a recovery phase, Fire and Emergency would hand over lead agency responsibilities to police.
The urban search and rescue team was being assisted by police disaster victim identification officers and specialist advisers as they progressed through “systematic search/delayering activities while balancing responder safety and the realistic assessment of survivability”.
“As the operation evolves, technical evidence, restricted access to certain sites (Sector 1) and professional judgement are informing decision-making regarding the viability of rescue, enabling a respectful and criteria-based transition to recovery when appropriate, including preparation for Police DVI processes.
“Throughout the incident, significant consideration is being given to the emotional impact on the affected families, ensuring compassionate and accurate communication through Police Family Liaisons.”
At 12.30pm on January 24 police held a press conference outside the surf club. Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation had been formally handed over to police by Fire and Emergency about an hour earlier.
“Every single person involved in this operation has been focused solely on saving the lives of the people under the slip. Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive,” Anderson said in a statement.
“This is heartbreaking news for the families and the dozens of people who have been working day and night, hoping for a positive outcome.
“We informed the families of this news this morning and we’re continuing to provide them with wrap around support. They are going through something very few people could understand, and we ask that they be given space to grieve.”
Police then named the six people who were unaccounted for - Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, Mans Loke Bernhardsson, 20, Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, 71, Susan Doreen Knowles, 71, Sharon Maccanico, 15, and Max Furse-Kee, 15.
Search teams had located human remains under the slip and formal identification was proceeding, Anderson said.
“This afternoon, search teams, supported by contractors and machinery, are continuing to work through the debris, towards the amenities block. It’s taken two days to get to this point, but they’re getting closer.
“From what we have seen, the building suffered catastrophic damage and we are confronted with the reality that it is highly unlikely anyone would have been able to survive.”
On the morning of January 25, Fire and Emergency’s wellbeing adviser sent an email to Alphors and a colleague with a copy of the organisation’s after deployment guidelines.
“It is completely normal to experience a range of emotions following a challenging deployment such as this. Please be kind to yourselves and take things quietly, allowing time to process and decompress.”
The national co-ordination centre situation report said the incident had moved into a recovery phase and that police were now the lead agency.
“USAR presence/resourcing to be assessed, and requested, by Police moving forwards.”
Thirteen USAR members had been “demobilised”.
On February 1, police announced that all recovery operations at Mt Maunganui had ended.
RNZ asked Fire and Emergency for comment on the OIA.
“The events at Mount Maunganui are now subject to a coronial inquiry and an operational review so we are not in a position now to provide more information than is contained in the response to your OIA,” a spokesperson said.