Drury scrub fire among 13 incidents handled by volunteers during firefighter strike

A scrub fire in Drury had to be extinguished by Pōkeno volunteers today as paid firefighters walked off the job during a one-hour nationwide strike.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) says it received 18 calls between 12pm and 1pm on Friday, 28 November, the period of industrial action by members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU).

Of those, 13 incidents occurred in areas directly affected by the strike, meaning responses were handled by volunteer brigades.

One of the confirmed fires was a 1m x 1m scrub blaze in Drury, which was put out by the Pōkeno Volunteer Fire Brigade. The other confirmed fire was a small rubbish fire in Ranui, extinguished by an occupant.

The remaining strike-hour incidents included eight alarm activations that did not involve actual fires, two motor vehicle crashes, and one request for assistance from an ambulance service.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said volunteers stepped up once again.

“Thank you also to our more than 11,000 volunteers across the country, and their employers for supporting them to respond over today’s strike hour,” she said.

“Our volunteers responded as normal to incidents within their brigade areas.”

Stiffler urged the public to continue exercising extra caution during ongoing strikes and said FENZ is disappointed the union has issued further one-hour strike notices for 12pm on 5 and 12 December.

“I urge the NZPFU to withdraw these latest strike notices and not issue any more while the Employment Relations Authority is considering our application to provide facilitation,” she said. “This is in the best interests of our people, and New Zealand’s communities.”

Stiffler said the NZPFU’s latest settlement proposal was three times higher than FENZ’s offer, which includes a 6.2 percent increase over three years. She said the package was in line with public sector agreements and sustainable for the organisation.

“We don’t see the point in putting the community at risk with this strike while that process plays out,” she said. “We will continue to work in good faith toward a fair and sustainable agreement, which is why today’s action is completely unnecessary.”

FENZ says its current budget puts more than 90 percent of its spending into frontline operations and support.

Negotiations between FENZ and the union have been ongoing since July 2024.