Megan Stiffler: Fire and Emergency NZ Deputy National Commander addresses claims new fire trucks can't hold safety gear

Fire and Emergency's new trucks don't have enough space for firefighter gear. 

It has spent millions of dollars on the 28 vehicles, but crews say the lockers are about 20 percent smaller than before.

Their union says workers are considering cutting holes to make more room. 

Fire and Emergency Deputy National Commander, Megan Stiffler, says inventory lists weren't accurate. 

"There were some items that weren't listed on that, and that's the bit that I'm working with fire crews at the moment - to understand why they weren't on a list and how I can best meet their needs."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now firefighters are not happy. They claim that the new
fire trucks that have been bought by FENS are too
small for all their life saving gear. Finns has spent
millions on twenty eight new trucks, but the crews say
that the lockers are about twenty percent smaller than they
used to be and they're considering cutting holes in them
to make more room. Meghan Stiffler is the FENS Deputy
National Commander and with us, Hey.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Megan Cure, Heather, how are you?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, well, thank you, okay, So are they right? Are
the lockers smaller?

Speaker 3 (00:26):
We have twenty eight new trucks that have landed in
New Zealand. Eleven of those are used for specialist rescue
trucks and when we did our testing, there is some
equipment that isn't suitable for the new design. So we
are working with our crews currently on identifying why the
inventory list is different and how we can best fix

(00:49):
that for them. Yeah, so that's what we're up to
at the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
What inventory list is different? What does that mean?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, what we do is with every fire truck, we
have a standard inventory to ensure that every community gets
the same response with the inventory that was put together
with the working group. There were some items that weren't
listed on that and that's the bit that I'm working
with fire crews at the moment is to understand why
they weren't on a list, and if they are required,

(01:20):
how I can best meet their needs by having the desires.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Oh are you are you saying Megan that when you
guys bought the trucks, you bought them for a specific
list of gear that would go in there. But now
that the trucks have arrived, the guys, the firefighters want
to chuck more gear in.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Not that they want to truck gear in Heather. I
think we have specialist rescue crews that.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Have you know what I mean identified You.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Had bought trucks for x x number of bits of gear,
and now there are more bits of gear that need
to go on the trucks.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Apparently.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Is that what's happening?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah, eleven of the twenty eight we have identified needs
some more space and that's what we're working with our
crews on.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
So this is a firefighter's proper and they should have
given you a better list.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh no, No, this is an organizational problem that we're
going to solve with our frontline firefighters.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Host fault is this.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
I'd like to think of it as a solution rather
than fault.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think if we work together, what a crop come
off us?

Speaker 1 (02:18):
If you're buying, stop it, megan. If you're buy like
you are the firefighters who need to save our lives.
If you're buying fire trucks that are too small, somebody
made a mistake. Who made the mistake? Come on, they
did it.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
They're not too Yeah, I just want to clarify. Those
eleven fire trucks that we're talking about are fit for
purpose for the normal fire pump. So all we're doing
is adjusting our schedule and putting eleven brand new trucks
into communities that only.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
But isn't it isn't the problem that they're leaving off
all this life saving equipment that they would need, like
I don't know, jaws of life stuff to cut people
out out of car crashes.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Isn't that a sand stuff up? Not for the standard pump.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
That's what I'm saying, Like, we've got twenty eight brand
new trucks.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
But you guys don't just.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Fight fires, right, you go and save people from car
crashes as well, you.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Too, of course, and those standard fire trucks that I'm
talking about have standard equipment. It's the really specialist equipment
that we're talking about about that. So there would be
extra chains for snow conditions on rescue pumps. There's some
extra lifting equipment for those that are located in train

(03:30):
areas where we've got cargo that help lift trucks if
they go over a car. So those twenty eight trucks
aren't wasted. They're actually going out into community over the
next couple of weeks and they'll be well received by
those crews. Right.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
And have you managed to fix that situation where you
had the firefighter sitting in a tray above a big
fire and they couldn't get down because the ladder had
broken or something like that.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, what we found with that is the firefighters did
an amazing job in using their may day call to
say that they had a problem, and we went through
our normal procedures.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
And we've just spent twelve million.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
Dollars on five new aerials that are currently being made
in Wellington and in Brisbane and they'll be delivered this
financial year, so you know, our firefighters will have twelve
million dollars worth of aerials in their hands by the
end of this financial.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
They're not going to get stuck up in the bucket
above a fire again.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
No, and keeping in mind they're complex pieces of equipment, Heather,
that's why we've got all those procedures in place because
things can go wrong.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
With Megan, did I just hear that you guys that
your firefighters going on strike as well in a couple
of weeks.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
They have given us notice today and we'll still go,
isn't it. Yeah, it is.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
We've been in negotiations with the union for twelve months.
In September when we were bargaining, we indicated that next
week we'd be bringing.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Back a revised settlement.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
So we're a little disappointed that notices come in today,
but we'll work through it and to me, we need
to get a resolution so our firefighters can get on
with their job and do the best thing that they
can do.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
All right, Meghan, Hey, thanks for your time. Megan Stiffler,
the FENNS Deputy National Commander. For more from Hither Duplessy
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