Firefighters struggling with ageing truck fleet
Photo:
RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The firefighters union says overheating equipment in a 28-year-old fire truck is symptomatic of the workers' ageing tools.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union said a power converter ignited and burned out in the cab of the vehicle as it returned from a factory fire.
It said it triggered an evacuation and crew to get fire extinguishers at the ready.
Fire and Emergency said no fire was involved.
The union's Tauranga branch secretary Mike Swanson told
Morning Report
elderly trucks were being used more than ever.
"They are there to replace frontline appliances as they go to service but they never seem to get a rest themselves because they've been pushed around from station to station."
Swanson said there were new trucks on the way but they would take some time to arrive.
"Till the new ones come in, we don't get another truck."
In a statement, FENZ said the truck had an electrical issue which meant it gave off a burning smell.
"Our firefighters and support staff reacted promptly, and the charger was replaced within an hour."
The spokesperson said an alternative truck was available and still is, should an urgent issue arise.
They said they had a replacement programme and that 70 new trucks were on order.
"Since 2017 around 317 new trucks have been added to the Fire and Emergency fleet."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Aratere to resume sailing following electrical fault stand-down
The Aratere in Wellington in 2011 after it was lengthened. Photo: RNZ The Aratere will resume sailing Friday evening after an electrical fault took it out of service. The ferry experienced a propulsion fault and spent several hours at anchor in Queen Charlotte Sound on Wednesday night while a specialist electrician came to fix the problem. KiwiRail said the ferry left Picton at about 8.50pm, but then "experienced an unexpected issue with its propulsion drive" while sailing. That issue was fixed at about 1am and the vessel resumed its trip to Wellington and arrived early on Thursday. A KiwiRail spokesperson said the fault on Aratere was repaired on Friday afternoon, and the ship had completed a successful sea trial. The ferry is due to resume sailing at around 6pm. Sailings on Thursday were cancelled while the fault was fixed, and KiwiRail later cancelled sailings on Friday while it awaited technical support from the original equipment manufacturer in Auckland to diagnose the root cause of the problem. KiwiRail thanked customers and passengers for their patience as it worked to identify and rectify the fault. The Aratere is due to be retired in August. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- RNZ News
Earl Bamber to start from two on 24 Hours of Le Mans grid
The Cadillac Hertz of Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button, in action during qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. June 11, 2025. Photo: AFP New Zealander Earl Bamber will start from two on the grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, with Cadillac locking out the front row in qualifying. Britain's Alex Lynn secured pole position, setting a best time of three minutes 23.166 seconds in the number 12 Team Jota Cadillac at the Sarthe circuit Bamber putting the sister 38 car alongside and 0.167 slower. Bamber has won the race twice, in 2015 and 2017 with Porsche. Fellow Kiwi Brendon Hartley, who has won the event three times, will start from 10 on the grid after team-mate Sebastien Buemi locked up the Toyota Gazoo car and drove into the gravel and was not able to finish the qualifier Lynn shares his car with compatriot Will Stevens and Frenchman Norman Nato while Bamber's teammates are 2009 Formula One world champion Jenson Button and French four-times Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais. "I can't tell you how much I wanted this," said Lynn, who missed out on pole last year by a mere 0.138, over the team radio. "One tenth last year hurt a lot. "I'm truly honoured to be able to put in a performance like that in front of everyone and deliver for Cadillac in the way they deserve," he added after getting out of the car. "This is a magical circuit and this is a special feeling. I can't describe it. We will enjoy this tonight, have a good sleep and re-set." GM-owned Cadillac are the first American marque to take outright pole at Le Mans since Ford in 1967. The number five Porsche Penske was third fastest, after threatening to take pole, with France's Julien Andlauer, Denmark's Michael Christensen and France's Mathieu Jaminet. The number 15 BMW qualified in fourth place with Belgian Dries Vanthoor, Swiss-Italian Raffaele Marciello and Danish former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen. Defending champions Ferrari, outright winners for the past two years, had Italian Antonio Fuoco, Denmark's Nicklas Nielsen and Spaniard Miguel Molina in seventh place in last year's winning car number 50. The 93rd edition of the race starts on Sunday at 2am NZT. - Reuters/RNZ Sport
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
‘Quiet street' to become permanent SH1 through Picton
By Kira Carrington , Local Democracy reporter As the new SH1, Kent St will be upgraded to support greater traffic. Photo: LDR Picton's Kent St is to become the new State Highway 1 , to the surprise of some of its residents. New Zealand Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi has announced that Kent St, which has been a "de facto state highway" during ferry terminal works since 2023, will officially become SH1, with some improvements to suit. The route bypasses the Nelson Square roundabout and central Picton, taking a more direct route towards the ferry terminal. Kent St resident Pam Wharehoka, who has lived on the street since 1982, said it "used to be a quiet street". "Hardly anyone came down [here], kids used to ride their bikes down here. [That] can't happen any more." When the terminal works started and all the trucks started coming down the street, the children welcomed it, she said. "The kids used to stand out there and [wave], and the drivers would give them a toot." Kent St resident Pam Wharehoka says the street used to be quiet before it became the de facto State Highway 1. Photo: LDR The Interislander ferry terminal moved to Lagoon Rd in 2023, as part of wider works for the now-canned iReX ferry project to accommodate new, larger ferries. NZTA regional manager of system design Richard Osborne said that ever since, all traffic accessing the ferry terminals had been going down Kent St. "Kent St has been acting as the de facto state highway. This is one of the key aspects the Picton Road Network Improvements Project wants to address," Osborne said. He said NZTA was obliged to send a Notice of Requirement to the Marlborough District Council to commandeer the council-owned road. The road would be maintained by Marlborough Roads, which was responsible for both council-owned roads and NZTA state highways. The planned changes to the road network in Picton. Photo: Supplied / NZTA Kent St resident Sue Letchford said the announcement was a long time coming. "Well, it's been coming for years, but it's still pretty horrible," Letchford said. She was worried about the safety of students from Picton School, which backed onto Kent St. Trucks started travelling down Kent St after the Interislander ferry terminal moved to Lagoon Rd in 2023. Photo: LDR NZTA said it would work with the Marlborough District Council to install a variable speed limit by the school, with a lower speed limit in place during peak school time. Picton School declined to comment on the changes. Letchford said she was pleased that the roads would be upgraded to support the increase in traffic. "Kent St is all right, but Oxford St gets ripped out ... constantly." Kent St residents had previously complained that the increase in trucks was noisy and "smashing up" the road, which required "major reconstruction". Kent St resident Linda Andrell said the sounds of the trucks were just white noise to her. "I've been here a few years now so I don't even [hear it]. Maybe at about 10 o'clock at night you might notice it." Dean Humphrey said the news was "good and bad". "We're talking about the [street] parking here ... We're going to be up at the library and have a talk to them about it," Humphrey said, referring to drop-in sessions planned for next week. The sessions will be held at Picton Library and Service Centre Waitohi Whare Mātauranga on 17-18 June. Work on the planned upgrades will start mid-next year. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
