![]() | |
Operational area | |
---|---|
Country | New Zealand |
Agency overview [1] | |
Established | 1 July 2017 |
Annual calls | 84,688 (2020–21) [2] : 10 |
Employees | 1634 (2020-21) [2] : 86 |
Staffing | |
Chief executive officer | Kerry Gregory |
Motto | Whakaratonga Iwi – Serving our people |
Facilities and equipment | |
Stations | 653 [3] |
Website | |
fireandemergency |
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand's main firefighting and emergency services body.
Fire and Emergency was formally established on 1 July 2017, after the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, and 38 rural fire districts and territorial authorities amalgamated to form one new organisation. [4] [5] It has nationwide responsibility for fire safety, firefighting, hazardous substance incident response, vehicle extrication and urban search and rescue.
New Zealand's first volunteer fire brigade was established by Mr Asher Asher, a Jewish emigrant from London, in Auckland in 1854, with volunteer fire brigades established in Christchurch in 1860, Dunedin in 1861, and in Wellington in 1865. The Municipal Corporations Act 1867 allowed borough councils to establish fire brigades and appoint fire inspectors, starting the first paid fire brigades. The Fire Brigades Act 1906 set up local fire boards, and levied central government, local authorities and insurance companies to cover costs. [6]
During the summer of 1945/46, a large scrub and forest fire threatened the town of Taupō and blocked the Rotorua–Taupō Road. In response, the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1947 established the modern rural firefighting force. [7]
On 18 November 1947, Christchurch's Ballantynes department store was gutted by fire, killing 41 employees. The resulting Royal Commission of Inquiry found that the store' evacuation scheme was inadequate, the fire brigade was slow to be informed of the fire, and the firefighters were not properly trained or equipped. [8] The Commission proposed a national fire service, however this was rejected. The Fire Services Act 1949 instead set up the Fire Service Council to coordinate urban fire brigades, direct firefighter training and distribute equipment. In 1958, the first national training school for firefighters was established. On 29 September 1958, the first 111 emergency telephone service was introduced covering Masterton and Carterton, and was gradually expanded nationwide through the 1960s and 1970s. [7]
The Fire Service Act 1975 replaced the Fire Service Council with a new Fire Service Commission, and merged local fire boards and urban volunteer fire brigades into a single entity, the New Zealand Fire Service.
The Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977 established the National Rural Fire Authority under the New Zealand Fire Service Commission to coordinate the various rural fire authorities. [7]
Fire and Emergency was formally established on 1 July 2017, merging the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, and 38 rural fire districts and territorial authorities. [4] [5]
An independent report by Judge Coral Shaw into the culture of Fire and Emergency New Zealand released in January 2019 found a widespread culture of bullying and harassment, including sexism and racism. The Chief Executive of Fire and Emergency noted the report was "wide ranging and confronting." [9]
Fire and Emergency is a Crown entity and is governed by a Crown Appointed Board. The Minister for Internal Affairs is the minister responsible for Fire and Emergency. The CEO is appointed by the State Services Commissioner. The Executive Leadership Team is responsible for service delivery and implementation in accordance with the Fire and Emergency Act.
The main functions of Fire and Emergency are those where it has responsibility to respond, and has lead responsibility in a multi-agency emergency. These include: [10]
Fire and Emergency also has a number of additional functions which it may assist in, but not at the compromise of its main functions. These are typically functions where another agency has lead responsibility in a multi-agency emergency. These additional function include: [11]
Fire and Emergency's jurisdiction covers the majority of New Zealand's land mass. The Department of Conservation is no longer responsible for fires as Fire and Emergency are the fire authority for all public conservation land. [12] DOC support Fire and Emergency in this function. This means any fire that starts or develops on public conservation land will be controlled by Fire and Emergency under their authority, and DOC will support them. New Zealand Defence Force are responsible for fire services covering the land under their control [ citation needed ]. Industry fire brigades provide fire services to certain facilities such as major airports and industrial plants. Fire and Emergency provides mutual assistance to these brigades.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand employ 1,854 professional career firefighters as well as 993 management and support staff. [2] [ page needed ]
Each career fire station has a number of watches (shifts). Full-time career stations have four watches, red, brown, blue and green, rotating on a "four-on four-off" schedule: two 10-hour day shifts, followed by two 14-hour night shifts, followed by four days off. However, most Career districts now rely on calling back off duty staff to provide additional resources at any large scale or long duration incident. Combination career and volunteer stations may have had a yellow watch, in which career staff work four 10-hour day shifts per calendar week, having one weekday, Saturday and Sunday off. Non-operational staff were "black watch", and work a regular 40-hour week.
Career Firefighters responded to 80% of all the incidents Fire and Emergency attend and protect 80% of the population.
Career firefighters numbers were relatively stable with low turnover. Fire and Emergency usually recruit twice-yearly, and received up to 700 applications for just 48 positions on each intake, making competition high and job prospects poor compared to other industries. Initial training for career firefighters was done on an intensive 12-week residential course at the national training centre in Rotorua that covered not only traditional firefighting subjects but others required of a modern professional Fire and Rescue Service. Topics such as; urban search and rescue (USAR), motor vehicle extrication and hazardous materials.
Career firefighters provided the Fire and Emergency personnel that staff the nations specialised USAR Response teams. Additional specialised training was provided for these personnel, however all paid career firefighters were trained to a baseline USAR 'Responder' level.
Career firefighters make up only 20 percent of Fire and Emergency's firefighting manpower; the remaining 80 percent of firefighters are volunteers, who received no payment for their time or labour. 11,847 Rural and Urban Volunteer firefighters mainly serve small towns, communities and outer suburbs which career stations do not cover, and responded to 20% of all incidents Fire and Emergency attended.[ citation needed ]
The epaulette markings used by Fire and Emergency are similar to those used by the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army, except for the use of impellers instead of pips and bars in place of chevrons. The current colour scheme for helmets was rolled out in late 2013, with the intention to make it easier to identify the command structure at a large-scale, multi-agency incident. [13]
Title | Epaulette [14] | Cap [15] | Gorgets [15] | Helmet [14] | Approximate equivalent | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LFB | FDNY | |||||
National Commander | Silver crossed sword and scabbard below a crown | Two rows of laurel leaves | Black oak leaves on a red background (also worn on the shirt in working dress) | Black helmet with a label reading National Commander | Commissioner | Chief of Department |
Deputy National Commander | Silver crossed sword and scabbard | Two rows of laurel leaves | Black oak leaves on a red background (also worn on the shirt in working dress | Black helmet with a label reading Deputy National Commander | ||
Assistant National Commander | Three impellers in a triangle below a crown | Two rows of laurel leaves | Black oak leaves on a red background (also worn on the shirt in working dress) | Silver helmet, two blue bands and a label reading Assistant National Commander | Assistant Commissioner | Assistant Chief |
District Manager | Box border, One impeller, crown | Two rows of laurel leaves | Black oak leaves on a red background | Silver helmet with one blue band and a label reading Commander/District Manager | Group Commander | Division Chief |
Group Manager | Box border, Three impellers | One row of laurel leaves | Red oak leaves on a black background | Plain Silver helmet with a label reading Assistant Commander/Group Manager | Station Commander | Battalion Chief |
Chief Fire Officer (Volunteer) | Two small impellers above an impeller with laurel | Two rows of laurel leaves | Red oak leaves on a black background | White helmet, two blue bands and a label reading Chief Fire Officer | Station Commander | Battalion Chief |
Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Volunteer) | Small impeller above an impeller with laurel | One row of laurel leaves | Red oak leaves on a black background | White helmet with one blue band and a label reading Deputy Chief Fire Officer | — | — |
Senior Station Officer | Two impellers | Plain | None | Red helmet with two blue bands or Blue helmet with two yellow bands (Operational Support) | Station Officer | Captain |
Station Officer | One impeller | Plain | None | Red helmet with one blue band or Blue helmet with one yellow band (Operational Support) | Sub-Officer | Lieutenant |
Senior Firefighter | Two bars | Plain | None | Yellow helmet with two red bands or Blue helmet with two red bands (Operational Support) | Leading Firefighter | Firefighter |
Qualified Firefighter | One bar | Plain | None | Yellow helmet with one red stripe or Blue helmet with one red stripe (Operational Support) | Firefighter | Firefighter |
Firefighter | One Bar outline | Plain | None | Plain Yellow helmet or Plain Blue helmet (Operational Support) | Firefighter | Firefighter |
Recruit Firefighter | Blank with 'RECRUIT' | Plain | None | Fluorescent green helmet with black crest | — | Probationary Firefighter |
The basic urban appliance in New Zealand is the Pump Tender and the Pump Rescue Tender. The Pump Tender is primarily equipped for fires, while the Pump Rescue Tender is additionally equipped with rescue equipment for motor vehicle accidents and vehicle extrication.
Class | Chassis make and model [3] [ user-generated source ] | Body manufacturer [3] [ user-generated source ] | Number [16] [ obsolete source ] [3] [ user-generated source ] (as of Feb 2021)[ user-generated source ] | Image [17] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Type 1 "Light" Pump | Iveco Eurocargo | Fraser Fire & Rescue, Lower Hutt | 352 | |
Type 2 "Medium" Pump | Iveco Eurocargo | Fraser Fire & Rescue, Lower Hutt | 250 | ![]() |
Type 3 "Heavy" Pump | MAN TGM Scania P-series | Fraser Fire & Rescue, Lower Hutt Mills-Tui, Rotorua | 218 | ![]() |
Type 4 "Heavy Aerial" Pump | Scania P-series | Fraser Fire & Rescue, Lower Hutt | 18 | ![]() |
Type 5 Hydraulic Elevating Platform | Mercedes Benz 2633 | Bronto Skylift, Tampere, Finland | 5 | |
Type 6 Turntable Ladder | Spartan Charger | Lowes Industries, Christchurch | 2 | ![]() |
Ultralight Pump | Mitsubishi Fuso Canter | Mills-Tui, Rotorua | 17 | |
Rural Medium Appliance | Isuzu NPS 400 | 150 | ![]() | |
Rural Large Appliance | Isuzu JCS 420 | 29 | ||
Water Tanker | Scania P-series Volvo FM Hino 500 | Tanker Engineering, Auckland Mills-Tui, Rotorua Fraser Fire & Rescue, Lower Hutt Lowes Industries, Christchurch Promax, Kerikeri | 167 | |
Hazmat / Command Unit | DAF LF | Custom Motorbodies, Auckland | 18 | |
Incident Support Vehicle | Iveco Eurocargo Mitsubishi Fuso Canter | Mills-Tui, Rotorua | 10 | ![]() |
Light Response Vehicle | Iveco Daily | SPEL, Trentham | 8 | ![]() |
Hose Layer | Hino 500 Iveco Eurocargo Bedford MK3 | Hale Motorbodies, Lower Hutt Jones O'dell Motor Bodies, Auckland | 4 | ![]() |
Command Unit | 3 | |||
Foam Tender | Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Scania P-series | Aviation Fire Services Fraser Fire & Rescue | 2 | |
BA Tender | Iveco Eurocargo Mitsubishi Fuso Canter | Custom Motorbodies, Auckland Mills-Tui, Rotorua | 2 | |
Lighting Unit | Isuzu Forward Hino FD | Tanker, Engineering Custom Motorbodies, Auckland | 2 | ![]() |
Hazmat Unit | Hino F-series | Unknown | 1 | ![]() |
Heavy Rescue Tender | Dennis Sabre | John Dennis Coachbuilders | 1 | ![]() |
Salvage Tender | Iveco Eurocargo | Custom Motorbodies, Auckland | 1 |
Fire and Emergency uses a relatively simple callsign system. In most cases, the callsign of any particular vehicle has; for the first part, two numbers which represent the station it is from, and one or two numbers representing the type of appliance it is. For Example, Auckland City's main pump appliance, Auckland City 207, has "20" representing the station – Auckland City; and "7" representing the type of appliance – Pump Rescue Tender. [18]
This is a list of commonly encountered appliance callsigns (the latter, in this case, meaning the appliance type):
Pump types 1 through 3, for example 831 (The main pump appliance at East Coast Bays Station). xx1 is usually a station's primary pump. xx2 is almost always a secondary pump. Pumps are somewhat limited in their specialised firefighting abilities, for example, highrise firefighting or forestry firefighting. In terms of local fires, for example, a small house fire, or car fire, the pump has more than enough equipment to suffice. A type 3 heavy pump, mainly found in larger cities with career crews carries about 1500 litres of water, [19] whereas a smaller type 1 or 2, light and medium respectively, each carry about 2000 litres, [20] [21] as these trucks usually respond to incidents in areas with unreticluated water supplies. The former contains much more equipment, as career firefighters receive much more training,; [22] whereas volunteers receive less at a national level. This means that career firefighters have a much higher overall skill and training level. One example of this is that a type three has two High-Pressure Deliveries (HPD), whereas a type 1 or 2 only has one; an HPD is a high-pressure hose, which unravels from the truck directly. The HPD is usually one of the first pieces of equipment used at a firefighting event.
![]() |
Major notable incidents where Fire and Emergency or its predecessors have played a significant role include:
A television campaign in 2002, named "Speed of Fire" had multiple clips of a house fire which were spread throughout an advertisement break, showing how fires spread in real time. It showed how house fires can fill a house in less than three minutes, which is about the same duration of advertisement breaks. The advertisement break started with a mother dropping a cigarette in her chair after leaving the room for the television break, and at the end of the television break, the house was engulfed in flames. It received a "Best use of television" award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. [33] [34] There was also a 2012 version where the mother placed a clothes rack in front of a heater. [35] [ better source needed ]
In 2012 the Fire Service had a campaign with the slogan "Could you live with yourself?". The goal was to decrease the number of fire-related injuries and fatalities by increasing the number of working smoke alarms in the homes of New Zealand. It put attention to the fact that house fires can lead to long-lasting health consequences rather than just death, featuring a father who did not have working fire alarms, causing his daughter to be permanently scarred after a house fire. [36] It has been described as one of New Zealand's most "tear-jerking ads". [37]
Between 15 April and the end of June in 2020, an 30-second advertisement campaign on YouTube, TVNZ+ and digital billboards was rolled out. It was called "Switch off before you walk off", featuring four people cooking who eventually got distracted by children, television, phone calls and tiredness and left their cooking unattended, causing a house fire. [38]
In 2021, a three-minute television advertisement carried out, taking up the entire advertisement break on television. It featured a family trying to escape their house, focusing on needing an escape plan and how a house fire can become deadly in three minutes. [39] [40] [41] Between 25 and 28 October, a three-step escape plan campaign was on television, TVNZ+ and radio, encouraging people to create an escape plan in three minutes – create a first escape route, a second escape route, and a meeting place. [42]
Between 7 March and April[ vague ], an advertisement created by FCB for Fire and Emergency NZ with the message "Firefighters Don’t Like Fire Movies", expressing that fires in the real world spread much faster than in movies, which means that people do not have the time to plan the heroic escapes seen in film. There was also a Te Reo version for Whakaata Māori. [41]
Between 27 November 2022 and 7 January 2023, Fire and Emergency NZ rolled out a social media advertising campaign named "You're cooked" where people under the influence of alcohol cook recipes given to them. It had the goal of teaching people how easy it is to start a fire while intoxicated. [43]
On 15 August 2023 Fire and Emergency NZ a carried out a controlled house fire live on the Seven Sharp television show with the purpose of teaching viewers about dangers of lithium-ion batteries and how quickly fires spread. The fire was started from an electric scooter, and the house was in Levin, which was designated for demolition before the broadcast. [44] [45] [46]
A fire engine or fire truck is a vehicle, usually a specially-designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations in a fire drill. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.
Firefighting jargon includes a diverse lexicon of both common and idiosyncratic terms. One problem that exists in trying to create a list such as this is that much of the terminology used by a particular department is specifically defined in their particular standing operating procedures, such that two departments may have completely different terms for the same thing. For example, depending on whom one asks, a safety team may be referred to as a standby, a RIT or RIG or RIC, or a FAST. Furthermore, a department may change a definition within its SOP, such that one year it may be RIT, and the next RIG or RIC.
The South Australian Country Fire Service is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting, rescues and hazardous materials and inland waterways in the country regions of South Australia. Its official mission is "To protect life, property and the environment from fire and other emergencies whilst protecting and supporting our personnel and continuously improving."
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services (MFES) provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance to the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review. DFES is responsible for the management, training and funding of career and volunteer Services including:
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992 staff, including 5,096 operational firefighters and officers based at 102 fire stations.
The New Zealand Fire Service was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), also known as the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, was a fire service in Victoria, Australia. The MFB provided firefighting, rescue, medical and hazardous material incident response services to the metropolitan area of Melbourne. The MFB's headquarters were located at the Eastern Hill Fire Station in East Melbourne.
Station officer is a supervisory rank in a number of Commonwealth and other fire services, including those in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the New Zealand Fire Service.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) previously known as NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), is an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. FRNSW is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas and towns across New South Wales. Fire and Rescue NSW is the fourth largest urban fire service in the world, with over 6,800 firefighters serving at 335 fire stations throughout the state, supported by 465 administrative and trades staff and 5,700 community fire unit volunteers. FRNSW are the busiest fire service in Australia, attending over 124,000 incidents a year.
The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (SAMFS) is the fire service for metropolitan and urban South Australia, as well as large townships. The Metropolitan Fire Service is constituted under the Fire and Emergency Services Act.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of 1,338 square miles (3,470 km2) and a population of over 1.7 million people.
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Cornwall, England. As of April 2019, the service employs over 400 retained firefighters, 203 full-time firefighters, plus 170 support and administrative staff. Created under the Fire Services Act 1947 as "Cornwall County Fire Brigade", the name changed to "Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service" on 1 October 2009.
Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Norfolk in the east of England. The county consists of around 870,100 people, covering the 4th largest area in England with 2,074 square miles including 200 miles of inland waterways, 90 miles of coastline and 6,125 miles of roads. The county city is Norwich with other major towns including Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Thetford. Norfolk has one of the 20 Urban Search and Rescue teams across England and Wales which were set up in response to the 9/11 attacks. The teams, including Norfolk, have the capacity to deal with two simultaneous incidents across the UK.
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires with the intent to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession, which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe can usually be avoided. To help prevent fires from starting, a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to victims in critical conditions, firefighters often also provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics. Firefighters make up one of the major emergency services, along with the emergency medical service, the police, and many others.
Fire services in the United Kingdom use a variety of fire appliances, which perform a wide range of general and specialised roles and fit into several distinct categories. Contemporary fire appliances carry a multitude of equipment and firefighting media to deal with different types of emergencies ranging from fires, rescues, vehicle extrication, floods, salvage, casualty and trauma care.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the United Kingdom, surpassing the London Fire Brigade.
Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) is a fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, Australia, that provides firefighting, rescue, HAZMAT and Emergency Medical Response services in areas of metropolitan Melbourne and major regional centres throughout Victoria.
A Special operations firefighter, also known as Fire Service Special Operations, is a specialist firefighter who has been specially trained to execute tasks other than standard firefighting operations. The National Fire Protection Association's Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments defines special operations as "Those emergency incidents to which the fire department responds that require specific and advanced training and specialized tools and equipment". The NFPA 1710 further defined special operations as "Special operations include water rescue, extrication, hazardous materials, confined space entry, highangle rescue, aircraft rescue and fire fighting, and other operations requiring specialized training".