National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Willis Street
Wel ington Central
Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
29 April 2026
Ref: 21388
Harwood Wilson
[FYI request #34416 email]
Tēnā koe Harwood
Thank you for your request of 7 April 2026 to Fire and Emergency New Zealand for information
relating to Fire and Emergency’s foams and fuel supply. Your request has been considered under
the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), and our response is provided below.
1. Please provide the manufacturing country of origin for all fire fighting foams that are
currently sourced by FENZ.
Our current contracted foams are manufactured in Australia, France, Spain and the United States
of America.
2. Do FENZ have any current plans, strategies or backups in place or under consideration in
the event there is a shortage of supply of fire fighting foam from the current supplier?
Fire and Emergency maintain significant stock holdings and have contracts in place to address
replacement if demand requires it. In addition, New Zealand based suppliers hold a limited
emergency backup stock.
3. Do FENZ have a minimum stock holding policy for foam as a region/area (excluding what is
held on trucks or on station for their own use) if so please give details and include how
much stock of foam is currently held by region/area also.
For Class A foam, we hold a minimum stock of 60,000 litres, of which 40,000 is held national y, and
20,000 is split equally across the regions. For Class B foam, we hold a minimum stock of 7,840
litres, of which 3,840 litres is held nationally and 4,000 litres is split equally across the regions.
4.
Do FENZ have any national or regional plans or strategies in place or under consideration
in the event of a fuel shortage, i.e. reduction in non priority travel, private use of vehicles,
identified risk locations (i.e Chathams or other risk)
Fire and Emergency is identified as a critical, life-saving service in the Government’s National Fuel
Plan. Maintaining emergency response capability is our highest priority. To support this, we
established a Fuel Planning Group in March 2026 to assess both actual and potential impacts of
fuel supply disruptions, including the impacts of escalating prices as wel as access to fuel and its
distribution.
We have developed a Fuel Management Plan aligned with the phased approach of the National
Fuel Plan (Watchful, Precautionary, Managed, Protected). The framework enables us to scale our
actions as required and ensures we can continue to respond effectively across all regions,
including remote communities where volunteer brigades may be more exposed to supply
challenges. We continue to monitor and analyse fleet fuel nationally to support informed decision-
making.
Fire and Emergency already operates with a conservative approach to business travel. We
prioritise virtual engagement wherever practical and ensure that any travel is clearly justified by
operational or organisational need. When travel is required, alternative transport options and
shared travel arrangements are considered to minimise fuel consumption.
We trust that the information being provided is of assistance. If you require further information,
please email [FENZ request email]
Please note that because of the identified public interest in the information that you have
requested, we intend to publish this response (with your personal details removed) on our
website.
Nāku noa, nā
Aidan Saunders
Manager, Information Requests