Fire and Emergency received calls for 10 incidents during today’s strike

16 September 2026

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 10 incidents between 12 pm and 1pm today, Wednesday 16 September, the sixty- second time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.

Of the 10 incidents, six were in areas impacted by the strike. All six incidents were false alarms.

"We have repeatedly warned about the risk the NZPFU is placing the public in every time it goes on strike,” 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 62 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.