Our district hose layer based at Mount Maunganui Station is a valuable resource for the Bay of Plenty/Coast Fire District.  It was secured through collaboration with like minded stakeholders and the determination of various Officers and Firefighters to provide an invaluable operational asset to our community.  

Unfortunately, this appliance has been plagued with serious safety concerns that have now got to a point where we, as the Tauranga Local, along with Mt Maunganui Volunteer Fire Brigade members can no longer accept.  

Carcinogenic exhaust emissions when operating the appliance, the age and reliability of the cab and chassis which make it barely roadworthy, and the variable intricacies with its operation are jeopardising the safety of our people which we cannot condone.

To this end we the Tauranga Local in conjunction with Mt Maunganui, Greerton and Tauranga Volunteer Brigades, are advising management that effective immediately, our members and volunteers will not operate the hose layer in any capacity until the above safety issues are rectified to our satisfaction.

We do not take this action lightly and are committed to working with management to resolve these issues in a timely fashion. We wish to reinstate what we believe is an imperative asset to our community that requires immediate attention.

In the interim, we ask our officer group to consider initiating alternative hose/water sources at large scale incidents (such as Auckland's hose layer), and ensure staff's familiarisation with local "grey water" procedures.