7 Sep 2020

Recruit firefighter details burns, bullying during training

From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am on 7 September 2020
Burns sustained by a recruit at FENZ National Training Centre in February 2019

Burns sustained by a recruit at FENZ National Training Centre in February 2019 Photo: supplied

A former professional firefighter recruit received serious burns and blistering to both hands during a live fire training exercise because the trainer failed to identify that his gloves were too small.

The accident occurred in February last year at Fire and Emergency's National Training Centre in Rotorua.

A FENZ investigation into the accident found that over a five year period, 56 burn injuries had occurred during the live fire training exercise, partly due to the unscripted and informal way trainers conducted the safety PPE inspection and briefing prior to entry. It also finds that the National Training Centre did not report the accident to headquarters, staff were unaware of the correct emergency medical support policy and training and reporting lines were inadequate.

The former recruit says of his intake of 24, half sustained burns, three of them serious, but none were reported.

He talks to Kathryn Ryan