Waikato - Fire and Emergency

07/09/2026

Tomorrow, between 12pm and 1pm, members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union will be stopping work for one hour.

We will continue to answer 111 fire calls. Volunteer stations in the affected cities and towns will respond, as they regularly do when there are multiple emergencies.

If you are at home, do not leave cooking unattended. Make sure you have working smoke alarms in every bedroom, hallway, and living area.

If there is a fire, get out, stay out, and call 111.

If you are at work, know your building evacuation plan. If there is a fire or the fire alarm sounds, exit the building, assemble at your safe meeting place and call 111.

If you are on a job site that uses spark or heat generating tools, we ask you to refrain from using these tools during this hour.

It is important to acknowledge that this strike action will not affect the parts of the country served by our volunteers.

If you are unsure whether your area is affected, please visit https://shorturl.at/thoU5

06/08/2026

One of our Waikato Assistant District Commanders is part of the six-person incident management team deploying to Canada to support the country's response to extensive wildfires. There is plenty to do with 484 active wildfires over 2 million hectares.

Kia kaha team, go well and stay safe.

Today a six-person incident management team is deploying to Canada to support the country’s response to extensive wildfires.

The personnel are part of an Australasian team requested by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre under a long-standing agreement between Canada, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand to provide mutual assistance with wildfire suppression.

A Liaison Officer left for Winnipeg on Tuesday and the other five depart today for Vancouver, where they will be assigned to incident management teams working on fires in British Columbia.

Each is a specialist in aspects of managing large-scale wildfires. Two will be filling Division Commander positions and the others will be stepping into roles as Logistics Chief, Safety Officer and Helicopter Supervisor.

Canada is currently experiencing extreme wildfire activity with 484 active wildfires and over 2 million hectares affected. Our specialist team will provide much needed relief and assistance to the local resources.

Kia kaha to our people and our Canadian whānau, we’re standing behind you all the way.