National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Wil is Street
Wel ington Central
Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
31 March 2025
Ref: 17315
Mark Grayson
[FYI request #30310 email]
Tēnā koe Mark
We refer to your request of 6 March 2025, to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, requesting
information relating to the Papakura Scrap Metal Fire on 6 March 2025. Your request has been
considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and our response is below.
1. Incident Report for F4163418;
Please find attached, as an
Appendix to this response, a copy of the SMS Incident Report (SMS
Report). Please note our records show that this incident commenced on 5 March 2025. Some
information has been withheld from the SMS Report pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to
protect the privacy of natural persons.
In making this decision, we have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of
the OIA. We have also redacted the names of personnel involved with this incident and these have
been label ed as
out of scope in the attached PDF.
Please note the SMS Report provided to you is generated by Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s
electronic station management system. In SMS Reports, ‘Notifications’ and ‘Message Log’ fields
are reported in real time as fire crews and our communication centres communicate with each
other during the incident. They are not the official final records of incidents but word for word
transcripts of ‘live’ situations as they occur. They may contain spelling errors or commonly used
abbreviations.
2. Total number of 111 calls received by the Communications Centre;
We can advise that 32 calls to 111 were received for this incident.
3. Total number of personnel who attended;
From the start of the incident on 5 March 2025 to 1:00am the next day there were 109 personnel
in attendance and they consisted of both volunteer and career staff. These personnel were not al
present at the incident at the same time as a crew change over occurred from 6.00pm.
4. Total number of Communications centre personnel who were on duty, broken down by
centre;
The total number of Communications Centre (ComCen) staff on duty were as fol ows:
• Northcom – one Shift Manager with five Dispatchers, and a Trainee Dispatcher.
• Centralcom – one Shift Manager with four dispatchers.
• Southcom – one Shift Manager with three dispatchers.
5. What Fire and Emergency resources attended this incident?;
The resources that attended this incident are provided on pages one to three in the SMS Report
(appendix) attached.
6. Were all aerial appliances available for this incident, or were some unavailable?
7. If there were some unavailable, what was the reason?
There are normal y five operational aerials in Auckland and one relief aerial. At the time of the fire
there were four operational aerials available as the Auckland City aerial appliance was having its
boom rams rebuilt, and the relief aerial appliance that would normally replace it was not available
due to some rust being found on it.
8. Was there any reported mechanical failures or breakdowns during this incident?
Yes, there were reported mechanical failures or breakdowns during this incident.
9. How many appliances were in "relief" trucks for this incident?
The following appliances were in relief for this incident:
•
OTAR331
•
MANG351
•
GLEN641
•
REMU211
•
AUCK201
•
ALBA851
•
PARN251
10. Was there any delay in resources attending this incident?;
The Otara HAZMAT/Command Unit was delayed while they unloaded the HAZMAT pods because
they were responding as a Command Unit. The Heavy Aerial appliance from Auckland City station
was also delayed in peak hour traffic.
11. What 'coverage' was maintained by Fire and Emergency while resources attended this
incident?;
There was adequate cover across the three Tamaki Makaurau Districts during the incident. We can
advise:
• the Onehunga pump was moved to Papakura, and later responded to this incident when it
escalated.
• the Otahuhu pump was moved to Papatoetoe and later responded to this incident when it
escalated.
• the Avondale Rescue Tender was moved to Papatoetoe when Otahuhu responded to the
incident.
• the Papakura Volunteer Firefighters went to Papakura Station.
• the Howick Volunteer Firefighters went to Howick Station.
• the Mount Roskil pump was moved to Mangere Station.
• as the incident escalated, the Pukekohe Volunteer Rescue Tender was moved to Papakura
Station and the Patamahoe Pump was moved to Pukekohe.
• some of the Westharbour Volunteer Firefighters went to Avondale Station and others went
to Westharbour Station to crew their second appliance.
• the Balmoral pump was moved to Onehunga.
12. Has a cause been determined for the fire, and if so, what was it?
The cause at this stage is undetermined as the fire investigation continues.
13. Was an "Emergency Mobile Alert" issued to alert members of the public of the danger?
Yes - the EMA alert was issued at 17:53:49 hours on 5 March 2025.
14. Is this the same premises where two separate large scaled fires occurred in 2021, where an
aerial appliance suffered catastrophic mechanical failure?
We can confirm that the subject of
this article did occur at the same address, but we would need
further information to identify what second incident you are referring to.
15. What prevention or education measures has Fire and Emergency NZ provided to prevent
this type of incident?
The Counties Manukau Community Risk Management team have a District-wide project working
with Auckland Council to identify sites, such as large metal scrap yards, and are working together
with the operators to establish best practices in running the site and stopping future incidents
from occurring. Actions undertaken to prevent this type of incident include:
• reducing the size of piles.
• early notification to Fire and Emergency of deep-seated fires.
• monitoring of sites via CCTV or personnel 24/7 where possible.
• identification of potential fire risks in the recycling material, e.g., lithium-ion batteries and
separation from main piles into intermediate bulk containers (IBC’s) filled with water.
• install pressurised firefighting water supplies and ground-based monitors readily available
for fire extinguishment.
• onsite IBC’s filled with water to lift onto the fire by the excavators/cranes.
• Fire and Emergency Site Reports and tactical plans for identified sites.
• removal of potential exposures (fuel tanks etc.).
• concrete bays to separate piles.
• good access for firefighting around the site for first responders.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
If you require further information, please email [FENZ request email]
Nāku noa, nā
Aidan Saunders
Manager, Information Requests
