Whanganui firefighters call for more support from Fire and Emergency NZ over ‘terrible fleet’ of vehicles

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union members say they are frustrated with a lack of support resources and wage increases. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

Whanganui firefighters are dealing with an ageing fleet of fire trucks, which has resulted in breakdowns on the way to jobs and pump failures.

Union members are frustrated with a lack of support resources and wage increases.

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) had been in bargaining with employer Fire and Emergency New Zealand over safety and wellbeing concerns, access to resources and wage increases.

Fire and Emergency walked away from bargaining in early August, claiming discussions had taken their course, but NZPFU said the negotiations were only just starting.

Whanganui NZPFU secretary Geoff Moore said the ageing fleet of vehicles is one of the key issues his station faces.

Whanganui has three fire engines, which are 36, 35 and 29 years old respectively.

“Our fleet is in a terrible state,” Moore said.

“Our fire trucks are older than some of our firefighters so it is a bit of a scary thing.”

The fire station has had multiple issues with its existing vehicles, a problem encountered by other brigades nationwide.

There have been cases of trucks breaking down en route to jobs and pumps failing while firefighters are inside burning buildings, which Moore said poses a “serious safety risk”.

Whanganui has been without an aerial support vehicle since May and has had to call upon New Plymouth or Palmerston North for support.

Moore said the lack of stability and certainty makes for nervous times at the fire station, which can impact the safety of the community.

“We have got to be able to get to the job to do the job, which we can’t actually guarantee right now,” he said.

Whanganui NZPFU president Greg Lee said the lack of suitable vehicles is particularly risky for Whanganui because of its isolation.

Lee said newer and updated vehicles would allow crews to pump water better, be easier to use and offer more reliability for completing jobs.

“To be in this situation is from mismanagement over years of not replacing trucks in a timely fashion,” Lee said.

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union members at Whanganui Fire Station are frustrated with Fire and Emergency NZ. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said the organisation’s fire truck fleet is an important asset and it will be investing more than $20 million per year over the next three years to upgrade the 1300-strong fleet.

“Our network of trucks allows us to provide relief vehicles whenever, and wherever, they are needed when a truck is having either scheduled maintenance or repair work carried out,” she said.

Stiffler said 70 trucks are currently on order and the first ones from overseas manufacturers are starting to arrive in the country.

“Whanganui will receive a newer truck when one becomes available.”

Stiffler said out of the 1300 trucks nationwide, 29 are categorised as aerial trucks, which are located in the major urban centres only.

“Every one of our standard urban firefighting trucks have ladders, which can be used for rescues,” she said.

“Most incidents attended by firefighters do not require an aerial truck.”

Staffing has been an issue nationwide – Whanganui Fire Station has 37 professional firefighters, who effectively operate two trucks.

Lee said the Whanganui branch is “okay” with respect to staff numbers but said two trucks were not enough for a growing city of Whanganui’s size.

“[Fire and Emergency] have certainly not expanded with the population,” Lee said.

Moore said the wage increases “add insult to injury” but the money is not the main issue, it is having access to resources to be able to do their job.

An offer in June 2025 included pay increases of 5.1% over three years and increases in some allowances and conditions, which was rejected by the NZPFU.

Stiffler said the offer is in addition to the 2022 collective employment agreement settlement that provided a cumulative wage increase of up to 24% over a three-year period for paid firefighters.

NZPFU said union firefighters had not received a wage increase since July 2023. It claimed the offer would average out at 1% per annum over five years if it had been ratified on July 1 and was a three-year deal.

Moore said firefighters want to feel valued for the challenging and dangerous work they do.

“Any decent employer knows that happy staff are productive staff,” Moore said.

“In the job we do, with the dangers and risks factors, you need an employer that backs you to do your job effectively to look after the community, which we don’t think is there.”

The NZPFU has welcomed further bargaining discussions with Fire and Emergency in the hope of settling, but Moore said union members are pessimistic about that possibility.

“We hoped that after last time, Fire and Emergency had changed their general attitude towards us, but it would be apparent that they are playing the same games. I don’t think they had any intentions of settling,” Moore said.

“We want to settle, we want to get back into bargaining but they just seemed to have walked away.”

Moore said there are prearranged and agreed bargaining dates throughout September and October and he hoped Fire and Emergency would entertain discussions.

Fire and Emergency has applied for mediation through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to try to make progress towards a settlement. Fire and Emergency hoped the NZPFU would take up the offer of mediation.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.