North Shore fire: Firefighters left trapped above flames after equipment failure, union says

• Two firefighters had to be rescued during Auckland’s North Shore fire after their aerial unit malfunctioned.
• The union claims it is another example of an ageing, poorly-maintained fleet of fire trucks.
• Fire and Emergency New Zealand says staff safety is of “prime importance” and the truck will remain out of action until the fault is fixed.

Two firefighters had to be rescued while battling a huge blaze at an industrial business after their aerial unit broke down, leaving them trapped above the flames.

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union said each of the backup options to bring the basket down failed, including a “last resort” manual lever which broke off in a firefighter’s hand.

Vice president Martin Campbell said this was another example of an ageing and poorly-maintained fleet, and the consequences could have been serious.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said staff safety was “of prime importance”. While the agency had been unable to replicate the fault yet in testing, the truck would remain out of action until the issue was fixed.

Fire and Emergency crews were called to the large fire at the recycling plant on Hillside Rd in Wairau Valley at 5.24pm yesterday.

Witnesses reported seeing multiple fire trucks rushing to the scene, with toxic smoke visible across the city.

Bronwyn Patterson, who lives two streets from the blaze, told the Herald “things went boom, with projectiles going into the air”.

“Things landed in our backyard, maybe they were paper, plastic, or it could’ve been bits of roof,” she said.

“The smoke was very black.”

This morning Campbell told the Herald part of the emergency response went badly awry when one of the aerial units malfunctioned with two firefighters in the basket above the flames.

Firefighters in Wairau Valley battle the huge blaze – locals were told to avoid the area and close all doors and windows. Photo / Caleb Timms

“It’s sort of semi computer-operated, the operators will tell a computer where to send the aerial basket to. For whatever reason, that computer shut down and stopped working,” he said.

The usual steps of turning it off and on again and other troubleshooting failed to work, and emergency backup procedures failed, he said.

“One of the emergency manual levers actually broke off in a firefighter’s hand,” he said, which had been the “last resort” to bring the basket down.

“The firefighters stuck above the fire were directly impacted by the embers and smoke ... they were in a pretty precarious place.

“It wasn’t immediately dangerous but if they couldn’t have been rescued within a reasonable amount of time they were certainly going to run out of air.”

Another aerial appliance had to be used to rescue the trapped firefighters.

Firefighters battled a huge industrial fire on Auckland's North Shore last night, with locals urged to stay inside to avoid toxic smoke. Photo / Dean Purcell

The union hopes Fire and Emergency will withdraw the appliance to investigate why it broke down, and whether anything could have been done to prevent it.

Campbell said the broken appliance was at least a decade old, and the one that rescued the staff was nearly 20 years old.

He was aware that one of the trucks on the fleet is due to be retired in six months, but it is not the unit that broke down.

“This is just another unfortunate symptom of the ageing fleet of aerial appliances that Fire and Emergency has.

“It [Fire and Emergency] always says ‘Our fleet is well-maintained and regularly serviced’. Well, quite frankly, that’s just bollocks.

“Every time there’s a major fire one or more of these aerial trucks is breaking down. That’s not symptomatic of a fleet that is well-maintained or regularly serviced.”

Campbell has not had a chance to speak directly to the two staff involved, but said he could imagine what they were going through while they were trapped.

Region commander Ron Devlin confirmed in a statement the aerial component of the appliance had faulted, “and was unable to be moved while operating at the fire”.

“The two-person crew was removed to safety from the platform cage by another similar appliance that was on scene,” he said.

“An aerial appliance from Hamilton was brought through, however this was not required at the fire, and it stood by at Auckland central fire station, returning to Hamilton later in the evening.

“The appliance is now at the workshops for cleaning and testing and at this time we have been informed that they have not been able replicate the fault that occurred during the fire.”

He said the safety and wellbeing of staff was “of prime importance”.

“A full investigation will be carried out into the appliance incident and the appliance will remain off the run until we have remedied the fault and it is tested to be fully operational.”

Firefighters were still on the scene of the blaze this morning working to fully extinguish the fire.

Emergency staff survey the carnage after a huge fire destroyed a North Shore recycling facility last night. Photo / Alex Burton

Assistant commander James Hall said three fire trucks and two ladder trucks were working with two diggers to open up the badly damaged structure.

“While there are small flare-ups, there is no significant smoke and the lithium-ion batteries involved in the fire are no longer a hazard.”

It’s believed the batteries may have caused the fire.

“The emergency message alert advising people to stay inside was lifted during the night.”

He said an investigation was under way into the cause of the fire and crews are expected to remain on the scene until later this afternoon.

Two workers at the recycling plant tried to fight the fire and thought they had it under control until it “started exploding”, the Herald understands.

Safeswim’s website has also advised that water is not safe for swimming at Milford, Castor Bay, and the Wairau outlet.

A temporary safe space was set up at Glenfield Baptist Church for the public during the fire.

MP Dan Bidois said: “I’m devastated to see the fire at Abilities Group, an outstanding and important organisation in our community.”

The recycling charity where the fire broke out said it is “heartbroken” by the “severe damage”.

“Thankfully, no one was hurt, but much of what we’ve built together over the years has been lost,” it said.

“We’re working with the authorities and are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support and kind messages.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.