“Our on-call mechanics do a wonderful job to keep our fire appliances operational.”

An electrical fire in a Tauranga brigade relief fire truck on June 11 meant the fire appliance was pulled out of service for several hours.

He said the relief truck was needed because the “main front-running rescue truck was undergoing its eighth intercooler replacement in the past five years”.

“It has also failed its COF [Certificate of Fitness].”

The relief truck was “very old and clapped out” and, because of chronic air leaks, firefighters have to keep topping up the air tanks to keep it operational before heading to 111 callouts.

Swanson said this was a significant public safety issue.

A 28-year-old relief fire truck caught fire on the way back from responding to a Tauriko factory fire on June 11.

“Seconds count, especially if someone’s trapped in a burning house or anyone was struggling to breathe or needed CPR. We’re often backing up the St John ambulance service in medical emergencies.”

He said new fire trucks had been on order since 2020, and it was anticipated that they would come on stream by the end of the year.

However, Fire and Emergency NZ had a “cascade” asset-management plan.

This meant the new trucks were expected to go to bigger cities such as Auckland, and Tauranga would get a second-hand one.

“We’re never going to get a brand new fire truck in Tauranga, but we deserve to have ones that are fit for purpose, and our firefighters deserve better asset management from FENZ.”

Fire and Emergency NZ has 70 new fire trucks currently on order. Photo / NZME

Ken Cooper, Fire and Emergency’s acting deputy chief executive of service delivery operations, said an electrical issue in a battery charger in one of the Tauranga appliances caused it to give off a burning smell.

“Our firefighters and support staff reacted promptly, and the charger was replaced within an hour. We can confirm the truck did not catch fire.”

Cooper said the same appliance had earlier been found to have a minor air leak and it was agreed with the firefighters that it would be fixed when the appliance was next scheduled to be in the workshop.

“As an emergency response agency, we can mobilise a wide range of resources to meet the needs of the emergency. An alternative truck was available and still is, should an urgent issue arise.

“Fire and Emergency has over 1280 trucks in its fleet and has an ongoing appliance replacement programme, with 70 new trucks currently on order.”

Since 2017, about 317 new trucks have been added to the fleet, he said.

Fire and Emergency was asked when the new trucks would come on stream around the country and what Tauranga could expect in terms of the allocation of new or second-hand appliances.