Melissa Connolly

Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand's urban and rural firefighting organisation. For more than 150 years, fire service organisations have been at the heart of New Zealand communities. For generations we’ve been dedicated to protecting New Zealand from fire and its consequences. These days, our firefighters do so much more than just fighting fires. They work with communities to build their resilience by helping them prepare for, respond to and recover well from emergencies. We respond to a wide variety of emergencies including motor vehicle accidents, medical emergencies, dealing with hazardous substances, severe weather events and natural disasters. We work to reduce risk to make our communities safer, through fire safety campaigns, research, and by providing advice on the building code. In July 2017, Fire and Emergency New Zealand was established under legislation to bring together over 40 firefighting organisations around the country and around 14,000 people. Part of the new organisation was investing to make sure our firefighters across the country have the right resources to do the job.