Whanganui firefighters faced multiple appliance failures during South Mole fire callout

Whanganui firefighters experienced multiple vehicle faults over the weekend, which resulted in a delayed response time for the large scrub fire at the South Mole on January 25. Photo / New Zealand Professional Firefighters' Union

Whanganui firefighters had to deal with multiple appliance failures while a large scrub fire spread at the South Mole.

Whanganui New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) secretary Geoff Moore said the frontline MAN truck broke on January 24, after returning from a separate intercooler issue.

The 36-year-old replacement truck was used the following day before it failed to work when responding to a vegetation fire at the South Mole, around 8pm that night.

“The boys got in the truck to get out of the door, it started moving and then stopped because the throttle had broken,” Moore said.

“We had to park it next to the already broken other truck.”

By the time the crew had jumped into another truck, Moore estimated that at least two or three minutes were shaved off the response time.

“Obviously, time is critical. That is why we stress the importance of working smoke alarms so much, a fire can be unforgivable within a few minutes – it’s incredibly critical,” Moore said.

He said the importance of response time is even more vital when there are people who may be at risk, such as occupants in a house fire.

Moore said the fire crew were not surprised with the vehicles faults because it is a commonality, which he said was “a bit scary”.

“We were just like, ‘you can’t make this stuff up’, it’s in such a state, if it was a one-off, that’s one thing, but this is happening nationwide every day,” he said.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said they were aware that one of Whanganui’s trucks was already in the workshop at the time of the callout and a replacement for it was on station.

“Trucks need repairs and scheduled maintenance from time to time so we deploy other trucks in our fleet network to ensure we can always respond to emergencies,” the spokesperson said.

“The truck the crew were going to respond in had a mechanical issue, so the response deployed another truck from the same fire station to minimise delays.

“Our crews are trained and highly skilled and adjust their tactics based on the emergency, and on the resources available, at the time.”

Moore said it is incidents like this that motivate union members to keep striking.

“There is risk every other day, which the public may not realise, because [Fire and Emergency] are gambling, day in day out,” Moore said.

Whanganui firefighters were responding to a large scrub fire at the South Mole when the truck malfunctioned. Photo / Castlecliff, Wanganui

Fire and Emergency said it was planning to invest approximately $20 million over the next five years to replace older vehicles across the country.

Whanganui is scheduled to get a new appliance later this year.

“It is important our crews have access to a safe reliable fleet,” it said in a statement.

Moore said firefighters understand that machines sometimes break down but the problem is that there is “no proper replacement strategy or relief appliance strategy”.

“When things break, there is nothing there to put in its place,” Moore said.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.