The Otago Daily Times can confirm both of Dunedin’s "aerial appliances" (ladder trucks) were unavailable on Monday, which put the brigade in a difficult position for many of its call-outs.
The Dunedin fire brigade’s "newer" 28-year-old aerial appliance has been out of action since early August after the foot snapped off the bottom of the outrigger.
Since then, they had been using the 37-year-old appliance as a back-up, but on Monday that had an electrical fault, which put it out of action for most of the day.
Dunedin firefighter Mike Taylor said the situation could have been really dire as it was a "crucial" piece of equipment.
"We were lucky we didn't have to use it in the winds [on Monday].
"Most of the calls that we go to in the metro area have an aerial attached, and that's not just for the classic rescue-people-out-of-a-high-rise situation.
"There's a multitude of functions that these appliances perform, such as delivering water from high angles or a high point for line rescue, sort of things like that, you know, other things that aren't the traditional ladder-up-against-the-building situation."
In order to get things repaired, they had to get pieces shipped from elsewhere in the country to specialists before the appliances could get fixed back in Dunedin, Mr Taylor said.
"We've got no resilience left in the system."
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) had their "heads in the sand" about the situation, he said.
Mr Taylor, who is also secretary of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union, said there needed to be better contingency planning from the national body.
"We are due five new aerials into New Zealand as part of what was an emergency procurement. This emergency procurement began around six years ago.
"That's not an ongoing fleet replacement strategy. So, once [the appliances] finally come in ... Fenz are then going to have to look at the overall replacement strategy.
"If we've taken six years to get five trucks, you can imagine how long it's going to take to formulate a replacement strategy for the whole fleet."
A Fenz spokeswoman confirmed it had five new aerials being built at a cost of about $12 million.
"We have 29 aerials, and the new investment will bring more flexibility in how we deploy these resources."
These aerials trucks were ordered in 2023 and included one 45m ladder truck for Auckland, and four 32m ladder trucks for Hamilton, Wellington (Thorndon Station), Christchurch and Dunedin, she said.
All five aerials were expected to be operational by the end of the financial year, she said.
"The new appliances are replacing existing appliances and will bring us more flexibility in how we deploy these resources."
