Fire and Emergency NZ

Kim Connors, Executive Director of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre visited us in Wellington this week. Kim presented CE Kerry Gregory with two pieces of art painted by Indigenous Canadian artist Jason Carter to thank our people for their involvement in the Canadian Wildfire response this year. We are committed to supporting our international colleagues when they need us. Deployment overseas is also a valuable skill-building experience for our people. Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa. Let us keep close together, not wide apart.

This week some of our people in Wellington, Nelson-Marlborough, Canterbury, Mid-South Canterbury and the West Coast took part in Exercise Rūaumoko. Exercise Rūaumoko simulated a devastating 8.2 magnitude earthquake on the Alpine Faultline, causing significant loss of life and damage across the entire South Island and Wellington. It tied in with the National Emergency Management Agency (NZ) Emergency Management Canterbury-led Exercise Pandora, which had support from many other organisations, including Hato Hone St John, NZ Police, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and New Zealand Defence Force. The aim of the exercise was to test our extensive interagency planning and coordination for a significant rupture of the Alpine Faultline at a local, regional and national level. Events like these help us improve our emergency response capability and how we work with our partner agencies 🤝

After years of hard mahi we have a new supplier for our next generation Type 3 Appliances (fire trucks) 🚒 Emergency One will receive the majority of our Type 3 truck orders for the next 10 years. The Type 3 Appliance Project placed our firefighter’s needs at the heart of defining what we would be looking for in our new appliances as we wanted to deliver a firefighter’s workplace, not simply deliver a new truck. A working group made up of predominantly firefighters, gathered the feedback of nearly 1000 operational staff from across the motu on what they require from their truck. This information was included in our proposals and a contract was signed with two suppliers - Emergency One and Angloco - to build two trial appliances each that fit our peoples' requirements. Once the trucks were built, crews in Auckland City Station, Hamilton, Napier and Christchurch City Station tested each truck for 4 months and provided feedback on them. The feedback and user surveys along with support and maintenance, collaboration and partnership, and the final and best offer were all fed into the recommendation. The four trucks that were trialed will undergo further modifications before going to their new homes. Emergency One trucks will be going to Parnell and Grey Lynn Stations and the Angloco trucks will go to Manurewa and Hamilton Station

This Guy Fawkes we encourage people to think about the risk fireworks pose before buying them. With the public sale of fireworks set to begin this weekend our crews across the country are preparing for a busy few days. Since 2019 we have seen 676 fires caused by fireworks, 513 of which were vegetation fires. One fire caused by fireworks is too many as they are preventable. We encourage people to not buy fireworks as many parts of the motu are drier than normal for this time of year meaning the risk of fire is heightened. However, if you are going to purchase fireworks, before lighting them check it is safe to do so by visiting www.checkitsalright.nz If it is windy do not light fireworks. If it is safe to light, here are a few simple precautions you can take to keep your whānau, animals and community safe: · Be a good neighbour, let people around you know you are setting off fireworks especially if they have pets or livestock. · Light them in a wide-open space, away from anything that could catch fire. · Ensure your fireworks are pointed at the sky and won’t end up in anything that can catch fire including buildings or vegetation. · Have a large bucket of water or hose at hand. · Dispose of your fireworks safely – soak them in water before you throw them out. We strongly discourage stockpiling fireworks for summer to set off over New Years. The risk of wildfire is greater in summer due to the hotter and drier conditions and storing fireworks in your home is dangerous. www.checkitsalright.nz

Last week we deployed a 10-person team to Samoa for 14 days to support the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). For the first time, CHOGM is being hosted by a small Pacific country. We’re part of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT) led mission to support the Samoan government throughout the event. Our team is assisting the Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority (SFESA) with fire safety, security, and response to incidents at CHOGM venues. Some of our Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) logistics personnel are also supporting the Ministry of Health New Zealand ‘New Zealand Medical Assistance Team’ as part of the same mission. Fa'afetai (thank you) to our deployed people for supporting our friends in the Pacific ❤

Happy International Control Room Week! 🎉 Join us in celebrating our dispatchers! Our dispatchers do the hard mahi every day, answering 111 calls, allocating resources to respond to incidents and supporting incident operations. Thank you for your service to our communities ❤

A massive congratulations to Sarah Hickford and Kylie James who were recently promoted to Chief Fire Officer (CFO) and Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) of the Waverley Volunteer Fire Brigade! This is the first time the Taranaki District has seen two wāhine leaders in the same brigade. Ka rawe! Sarah has been in the brigade for over 13 years and her dad Alan was a former CFO serving Waverley for over 50 years. “I always told my dad I would take his job and I did,” Sarah says. Sarah’s partner is also a Waverley volunteer firefighter, and they hope their tamariki will follow in their footsteps serving their community. Kylie joined the brigade early last year as a way to give back to Waverley in a positive way. Her skills and knowledge gained from owning local businesses have helped the brigade run like a well-oiled machine. A huge mihi to Sarah and Kylie for their amazing achievement! 📸 L-R: Sarah Hickford and Kylie James of the Waverley Volunteer Fire Brigade, and Janis Baker of the Taranaki Provincial Fire Brigades Association.

We're looking for community voices in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland! Join our new Auckland Local Advisory Committee and help us support communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover well from emergencies. Applications close Wednesday 23 October https://lnkd.in/g2a2A-jq

Over the weekend our Urban Search and Rescue team supported New Zealand Response Teams (NZ-RTs) from across the North Island in testing their skills in Exercise Poseidon in Wellington. The exercise scenario simulated a large earthquake that had hit Wellington. A timely and relevant exercise as Wellington experienced a magnitude 5.7 earthquake on the Sunday morning that reminded Wellington residents of the need to prepare for these types of occurrences. This 36-hour exercise was led and coordinated by the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) and had support from partner agencies NEMA, Ministry of Primary Industries, SPCA New Zealand, HUHA, New Zealand Defence Force, Wellington Free Ambulance and Rapid Relief. These NZ-RT volunteers play an important role in providing surge support in large scale emergencies. Being able to assist in their training and share our skills is how we better our cross-agency collaboration for when an emergency hits. Whanaungatanga, we are better together. More information on what to do to prepare for an earthquake can be found at https://getready.govt.nz/ or from the WREMO website https://www.wremo.nz/

Bula! 👋 Macawa ni Vosa VakaViti, Happy Fijian Language Week! A message from our people at Mangawhai Volunteer Fire Brigade: Mo nanuma niu raica checkitsalright.nz bera ni waqaca dua na buka vaka nomu i lovo! Remember to go to checkitsalright.nz before lighting any fire or lovos! 🔥