During the fire, Fire and Emergency warned people to stay inside and keep their pets indoors, because of the dangers posed by chemicals stored at the recycling plant site. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
Firefighters were left stranded precariously mid-air high above a huge blaze at a recycling plant when their aerial firefighting truck broke down, a union says.
The fire in Auckland's Glenfield on the North Shore broke out on Thursday, and has been contained, but fire crews are still at the site battling flare-ups. People in the area have been warned not to swim at Milford and Castor Bay beaches, due to hazardous substances in water.
Two firefighters became trapped 10 to 15 metres above the fire as the teams worked to put it out, Professional Firefighters Union (PFU) vice president Martin Campbell said.
Another aerial truck at the fire was redirected, so the two firefighters could be rescued.
Warnings from firefighters and unions that the state of the country's aerial fire trucks are putting lives at risk go back many years.
A fleet of MAN model trucks introduced in 2015 were at one stage blacklisted by one union over safety concerns, after a scree of faults followed their introduction.
Earlier this year Campbell renewed pleas for more action to be taken to address the break-down-prone Fire and Emergency NZ fleet. He said in one case in January an aerial truck had failed during a fire, followed by a backup aerial truck that was sent in also failing.
Trucks were sometimes not available during emergencies, wide areas did not have enough aerial trucks, and firefighters have at times had to withdraw or had rescue efforts limited, because of not being able to use the ladders, the union has said.
Campbell said firefighters were again put in danger at the Glenfield recycling plant fire, and Fire and Emergency needs to take the ageing of aerial appliances seriously.
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A screenshot from a video shows huge flames from the fire rising over Auckland's Wairau Valley. Photo: ANGELO MARUNDAN / SUPPLIED
Fire and Emergency Auckland manager Ron Devlin said the two firefighters who were rescued in this case were removed to safety, and the broken appliance was being examined.
FENZ has earlier said there is an ongoing replacement programme for appliances, and in January said a process had begun to purchase four new 32 metre heavy aerial trucks and one new 44m aerial truck.
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