Hazardous Substances Preparedness
Mike Hunua 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: Mike Hunua
Dear Fire and Emergency New Zealand,
Some NZPFU members have posted online that FENZ lacks training and preparedness for HAZMAT incidents. They also claim that FENZ does not have the Equipment to ID most substances.
Can FENZ HAZMAT teams ID substances via testing on scene at a HAZMAT incident, and what equipment do HAZMAT units have for ID of chemicals other than pH testing?
How often does FENZ review and make changes to HAZMAT Training?
Can FENZ release the ICAD incident report, as well as improvements made after the Hawke's Bay Protein acid spill in 2024?
Has FENZ completed its decontamination project and made any frontline changes?
Are FENZ equipped and trained to respond to biological and radiological HAZMAT incidents in both terrorism and civilian use cases?
Are FENZ equipped to be able to mass decontaminate 100s of persons in the event of a large-scale HAZMAT event as the lead agency?
Yours faithfully,
Mike Hunua
From: Official Information Requests
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Tēnā koe Mike Hunua
We write to acknowledge receipt of your information request dated 12 May
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.
The information you have requested may contain the names and contact
details of our staff or volunteers. Please let us know whether you require
these names and contact details. We may need to consult our people before
deciding whether we can release this information, and this may take a bit
more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you do not
require their names and contact details.
Nāku noa, nā
Information Request Team
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