Fire and Emergency received calls for 16 incidents during today’s strike

9 September 2026

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 16 incidents between 12 pm and 1pm today, Wednesday 9 September, the sixty-first time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.

Of the 16 incidents, 11 were in areas impacted by the strike.

Six were false alarms, two were motor vehicle crashes, two were minor incidents and one was a vegetation fire.

"We have repeatedly warned about the risk the NZPFU is placing the public in every time it goes on strike,” Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler says.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the dedication of the volunteers and Operational Commanders who responded to these incidents and the Communication Centre Managers who coordinated the responses. We also recognise the volunteers and staff across the country who have managed the 60 strike responses to date.

"We continue to call on the NZPFU to call off these reckless strikes and have asked it to urgently return to independent facilitation so we can make progress toward a fair and sustainable settlement.

"Fire and Emergency remains committed to achieving a fair and sustainable settlement so we can continue working to keep communities safe," Megan Stiffler says.