Following the deaths of two Fire and Emergency volunteer firefighters, Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg, in February 2023, Fire and Emergency commissioned an independent investigation to identify all the factors that contributed to this tragic event.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is a close whānau and this continues to be an awful reminder of the risks our firefighters can be exposed to on any given day.
This investigation was not conducted to attribute fault, blame or liability for what happened. It was undertaken to ensure Fire and Emergency can learn from this catastrophic event and to reduce the risk of something like this happening in the future.
As adverse events like Cyclone Gabrielle become more common and unpredictable, we need to be agile, adapting our knowledge and training as the types of emergencies we respond to change.
Work is underway to address the report’s conclusions. Some of this work was underway prior to this event and has now been completed.