Support for Wildfire Deployments

Alan Thompson made this Official Information request to Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Currently waiting for a response from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).

From: Alan Thompson

Dear Fire and Emergency New Zealand,

In December 2006 some 46 wildfire fighters were deployed to Victoria with a second contingent of 66 deployed in January as a second rotation. These two deployments were supported by (est) 2.0 FTEs up to their departure and (est) 1.0 FTE whilst on deployment.

You have advised that the deployments to Canada and the USA in 2024/25 (34 personnel) required an average of 10.0 FTEs supporting them from NZ over the full period of their deployment (63 days). Your ref:20319. This represents around a 10 fold increase in this function under FENZ's management.

Under the provisions of the Official Information Act:

1. Please advise the role and the deliverables of each of the 10 FTEs in the 2024/25 wildfire deployments in terms of their support for the deployment in both the period leading up to the departure of personnel and whilst they were in Canada/USA?

2. Please advise if/how the costs of the 10 FTEs were recovered from the Canada/US host agencies for the 2024/25 deployment?

3. Please provide a copy of the debrief or any other form of formal review report that was undertaken at the conclusion of the 2024/25 deployments to Canda and the USA including any post deployment review provided to FENZ by the host agency(s).

Yours faithfully,

Alan Thompson

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From: Official Information Requests
Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Tēnā koe Alan Thompson  
 
We write to acknowledge receipt of your information request dated 22
January 2026. Our commitment is to provide a response to your request as
soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after the day it was
received. If we are unable to meet this timeframe, we will inform you
promptly and provide details regarding any extension required. Should
clarification be necessary for your request, we may reach out to you for
additional information.
             

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Nāku noa, nā
Information Request Team

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