Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is asking businesses and building owners to manage their own fire risk for an hour on Wednesday, as paid firefighters prepare to walk off the job again.
Members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) will strike from 4.30pm to 5.30pm on October 21. FENZ said it will continue answering 111 calls and responding to emergencies during the stoppage, but warned that in cities and larger towns response times will be slower than usual. More than 11,000 volunteers from almost 600 stations will be available to respond in their own trucks.
FENZ is asking businesses to avoid any work practices that could result in fire during the strike window. Building owners are being asked to ensure tenants understand their evacuation schemes and procedures. FENZ has also urged people to delay lighting fires, or any outdoor activity that creates heat or sparks, for the hour. Regional maps showing which areas are affected are available on the FENZ website.
The strike comes while the union’s members are still weighing FENZ’s latest pay offer. At an October 1 bargaining session - the first in seven months - FENZ tabled a 2.2% increase, below the 2.4% it had already awarded non-union staff from July 1. The NZPFU is holding membership meetings nationwide between October 18 and November 3 to consider the offer and ballot other options, including further strike action.
FENZ has called on the union to suspend its twice-weekly strikes while members consider the offer, saying a version of the proposal was first tabled in December 2025. The union has said its members have been working under an expired agreement without a pay increase since mid-2023.
The timing is not straightforward. A record-strength El Niño is raising wildfire danger across northern and eastern New Zealand as summer approaches. With strikes running twice a week, the disruption is no longer an occasional event - it is becoming a standing feature of the season just as fire risk is building.
For commercial property brokers, FENZ’s own guidance is the practical starting point for client conversations. Clients operating hot works or other spark-producing processes during strike windows should pause that activity. Building owners with managed tenancies should confirm evacuation procedures are understood and up to date. If strikes continue at this frequency into the summer, the question of how response delays interact with commercial property policy conditions is one worth raising with insurers before a claim arises.
