Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand's main firefighting and emergency services body.
Fire and Emergency was formally established on 1 July 2017, after the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, and 38 rural fire districts and territorial authorities amalgamated to form one new organisation. It has nationwide responsibility for fire safety, firefighting, hazardous substance incident response, vehicle extrication and urban search and rescue.
History.
New Zealand's first volunteer fire brigade was established in Auckland in 1854, with volunteer fire brigades established in Christchurch in 1860, Dunedin in 1861, and in Wellington in 1865. The Municipal Corporation Act 1867 allowed borough councils to establish fire brigades and appoint fire inspectors, starting the first paid fire brigades. The Fire Brigades Act 1906 set up local fire boards, and levied central government, local authorities and insurance companies to cover costs.
During the summer of 1945/46, a large scrub and forest fire threatened the town of Taupo and blocked the Rotorua–Taupo Road. In response, the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1947 established the modern rural firefighting force.
On 18 November 1947, Christchurch's Ballantynes department store was gutted by fire, killing 41 employees. The resulting Royal Commission of Inquiry found that the store' evacuation scheme was inadequate, the fire brigade was slow to be informed of the fire, and the firefighters were not properly trained or equipped. The Commission proposed a national fire service, however this was rejected. The Fire Services Act 1949 instead set up the Fire Service Council to coordinate urban fire brigades, direct firefighter training and distribute equipment. In 1958, the first national training school for firefighters was established. On 29 September 1958, the first 111 emergency telephone service was introduced covering Masterton and Carterton, and was gradually expanded nationwide through the 1960s and 1970s.
The Fire Service Act 1975 replaced the Fire Service Council with a new Fire Service Commission, and merged local fire boards and urban volunteer fire brigades into a single entity, the New Zealand Fire Service.
The Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977 established the National Rural Fire Authority under the New Zealand Fire Service Commission to coordinate the various rural fire authorities.
Fire and Emergency was formally established on 1 July 2017, merging the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, and 38 rural fire districts and territorial authorities.
An independent report by Judge Coral Shaw into the culture of Fire and Emergency New Zealand released in January 2019 found a widespread culture of bullying and harassment, including sexism and racism. The Chief Executive of FENZ noted the report was "wide ranging and confronting." 
Governance.
Fire and Emergency is a Crown Entity and is governed by a Crown Appointed Board. The Minister for Internal Affairs is the minister responsible for Fire and Emergency. The CEO is appointed by the State Services Commissioner. The Executive Leadership Team is responsible for service delivery and implementation in accordance with the Fire and Emergency Act.
Roles and functions.
The main functions of Fire and Emergency are those where it has responsibility to respond, and has lead responsibility in a multi-agency emergency. These include:
Fire and Emergency also has a number of additional functions which it may assist in, but not at the compromise of its main functions. These are typically functions where another agency has lead responsibility in a multi-agency emergency. These additional function include:
Fire and Emergency's jurisdiction covers the majority of New Zealand's land mass. The Department of Conservation is no longer responsible for fires as Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) are the fire authority for all public conservation land. DOC support FENZ in this function. This means any fire that starts or develops on public conservation land will be controlled by FENZ under their authority, and DOC will support them. New Zealand Defence Force are responsible for fire services covering the land under their control . Industry fire brigades provide fire services to certain facilities such as major airports and industrial plants. Fire and Emergency provides mutual assistance to these brigades.
Staffing.
Career staff.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand employ 1,830 professional career firefighters as well as 955 management and support staff.
Each career fire station had a number of watches (shifts). Full-time career stations have four watches, red, brown, blue and green, rotating on a "four-on four-off" schedule: two 10-hour day shifts, followed by two 14-hour night shifts, followed by four days off. However, most Career districts now rely on calling back off duty staff to provide additional resources at any large scale or long duration incident. Combination career and volunteer stations may have had a yellow watch, in which career staff work four 10-hour day shifts per calendar week, having one weekday, Saturday and Sunday off. Non-operational staff were "black watch", and work a regular 40-hour week.
Career Firefighters responded to 80% of all the incidents FENZ attend and protect 80% of the population.
Career firefighters numbers were relatively stable with low turnover. FENZ usually recruit twice-yearly, and received up to 700 applications for just 48 positions on each intake, making competition high and job prospects poor compared to other industries. Initial training for career firefighters was done on an intensive 12-week residential course at the national training centre in Rotorua that covered not only traditional firefighting subjects but others required of a modern professional Fire and Rescue Service. Topics such as; urban search and rescue (USAR), motor vehicle extrication and hazardous materials.
Career firefighters provided the FENZ personnel that staff the nations specialised USAR Response teams. Additional specialised training was provided for these personnel, however all paid career firefighters were trained to a baseline USAR 'Responder' level.
Volunteers.
Career firefighters make up only 20 percent of FENZ's firefighting manpower; the remaining 80 percent of firefighters are volunteers, who received no payment for their time or labour. 11,847 Rural and Urban Volunteer firefighters mainly serve small towns, communities and outer suburbs which career stations do not cover, and responded to 20% of all incidents FENZ attended.
Ranks and insignia.
The epaulette markings used by Fire and Emergency are similar to those used by the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army, except for the use of impellers instead of pips and bars in place of chevrons. The current colour scheme for helmets was rolled out in late 2013, with the intention to make it easier to identify the command structure at a large-scale, multi-agency incident.
Appliances and vehicles.
The basic urban appliance in New Zealand is the Pump Tender and the Pump Rescue Tender. The Pump Tender is primarily equipped for fires, while the Pump Rescue Tender is additionally equipped with rescue equipment for motor vehicle accidents and vehicle extrication.
Notable incidents.
Major notable incidents where Fire and Emergency or its predecessors have played a significant role include: