Fire and Emergency received calls for 17 incidents during today’s strike

14 August 2026

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 17 incidents between 12pm and 1pm today, Friday 14 August, the fifty-fourth time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.

Of the 17 incidents, 10 were in areas impacted by the strike.

Seven were false alarms. One was a minor incident. Two were medical events that were attended to by Hato Hone St John, as per contingency planning.

"Fire and Emergency remains committed to achieving a fair and sustainable settlement so we can continue working to keep communities safe," Acting Deputy National Commander Ken Cooper says.

"Fire and Emergency’s most recent offer compares favourably with other public sector settlements and would have delivered a 2.2 percent increase from 1 December 2025 and 2.2 percent from 1 January 2027 over a 24-month term to the end of November 2027. This was at a cost of $50m over four years.

"By comparison, the NZPFU’s settlement proposal was for more than $130 million over the same period. That is not financially realistic at a time where we also have to keep investing in the trucks and equipment our people need to do their jobs safely.

"We continue to call on the NZPFU to call off these reckless strikes while we remain engaged with the Employment Relations Authority to try and come to a resolution.

"Most recently the ERA proposed both parties exchange their full revised bargaining positions at the same time, to help assess whether further facilitation is likely to assist. We agreed to this. The NZPFU did not.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the dedication of the volunteers, Operational Commanders and Communication Centre Managers who manage the strike responses.

"We remind the public that emergency responses will be delayed when strike action takes place," Ken Cooper says.