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The NZ Professional Firefighters Union has asked Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) to conduct an operational review following the devastating fire in Milldale, Wainui, on February 19.
The union has raised serious concerns that fire service resourcing and urban design issues may have contributed to the fire’s rapid spread. The blaze totally consumed the Lees Street property, significantly damaging two of the neighbouring houses and scorching the fence of the rear property.
Although investigations are ongoing, initial findings suggest a charging motorbike battery (non-EV) triggered “an unspecified electrical event” in the garage, igniting the fire, which then spread to the main house.
Union national vice-president, Martin Campbell, said it was concerning that the fire spread quickly across property boundaries and called for FENZ to investigate if the building designs of new developments were contributing to this.
Silverdale Fire Station Senior Station Officer, Steve Robinson, who attended the Milldale incident is also concerned that it could happen again.
“We attended another house fire in December, which I’m sure would have had a similar result if there hadn’t been a park next door,” he says.
“It’s devastating for the people whose house was affected in Milldale, but the houses on either side were also impacted, and the back fence as well. If the wind had been any stronger it could have easily spread to the properties on the road behind. The houses are built close together with a fence in the middle, which is combustible as well.”
Another area Campbell has asked FENZ to investigate is the road layout, particularly narrow roads and speed calming measures.
Although fire services reached the Milldale fire within the required timeframe, Robinson says they had issues reaching the site.
“The fire growth was significant within a short period, but the speed calming measures in the area made it tricky for us to get there any sooner, and in a rapidly developing fire, that obviously had consequences for the main fire and also for the surrounding properties.”
“With the layout of the streets, there are a lot of stretched islands you can’t drive over, so you have to go down the end of the street and go back around.”
Residents moved their cars to assist fire services but Robinson says if it had been later at night, access would have been impeded further by more cars parked on the roads.
“If the wind had been stronger, and a combination of all these things, it would have significantly affected the outcome and it may have been more tragic, possibly even some loss of life.
“Fortunately the occupant was alerted and managed to get out. They had smoke alarms, which did their job, but they still lost their two cats.”
A further issue raised by Campbell was the need for better resourcing of the fire services on the Hibiscus Coast. Despite being one of New Zealand’s 20 largest urban areas, the region still lacks 24/7 career firefighter staffing. As of June 2024, the Hibiscus Coast has a population of 69,070, making it the second most populated area in Auckland and the 10th in New Zealand.
Currently, the Coast is serviced by two volunteer fire stations (Silverdale and Manly), supplemented by a Monday to Friday Yellow Watch crew (based at Silverdale). Career firefighters work Monday to Friday from 7am to 5.30am, and volunteers respond when required.
Back up is provided by career stations from the North Shore that are at least 15 to 20 minutes away under emergency response, says Campbell.
Resourcing on the Coast has been an ongoing issue since 2007, when Auckland Regional Management agreed that the Silverdale Station should transition to career 24/7 firefighter staffing in the 2008/2009 financial year, but that never happened.
“A failure to act on that decision made 20 years ago is affecting the community now as the population grows.” Campbell says.
The Milldale incident needed eight trucks plus a command centre, Robinson says.
“When they get dragged up here it leaves a big hole in their coverage on the North Shore.”
Campbell says the union believes it is time for a courageous conversation to be held about the FENZ resourcing of one of New Zealand’s fastest growing communities.
