4 Jul 2022

Wellington's 32-metre ladder fire trucks both break down

4:00 pm on 4 July 2022

The Wellington region's two largest fire trucks are out of action after breaking down.

A firefighter on scene at an incident. 6 July 2016.

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Firefighters have been expressing anger for months at what they say is mismanagement of the fleet, a claim Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) rejects.

One of the trucks, which have 32m-long ladders, was already off the road when the second one broke down at the weekend.

FENZ said a specialist mechanic was checking it, and the region still had cover from two trucks with 17m ladders at Newtown and Avalon, as well as a high-rise hose at Seaview.

In a fleet of 1200 vehicles there were issues from time to time and it had plans in place to cover them, FENZ said

The professional firefighters' union declined to comment while it is trying to get back to pay talks amid ongoing industrial action, but its Facebook page said the situation in Wellington was "disturbing".

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