Fire and Emergency recieved calls for 13 incidents during today's NZPFU strike

23 February 2026

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 13 incidents between 12pm and 1pm today, Monday 23 February, the thirteenth time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.

It is also the first one-hour strike on a Monday. The NZPFU increases its strike action to two strikes per week from today.

Of the 13 incidents, 10 were in areas impacted by the strike.

Eight of the 10 incidents were fire alarm activations which did not result in a fire.

One was a motor vehicle crash and another a small property fire near Gisborne.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler thanked Fire and Emergency’s 11,800 volunteers across the country, particularly those volunteers who were called to attend events in areas impacted by the strike.

"I would also like to thank our Operational Commanders and Communication Centre Managers, who contributed to the response."

Megan Stiffler also thanked New Zealanders for their extra care during the strike hour.

"Continued strikes by the NZPFU including an escalation to twice weekly strikes, continues to unnecessarily put the public at risk while we remain in facilitated bargaining," Megan Stiffler says.