CAROLINE KING
Last updated 14:17 18/10/2012
Firefighters responded to the February 2011 earthquake with great courage but were poorly organised, an independent review has found.
Executive officers, including those already in Christchurch and those deployed within the first 12 to 24 hours, could have been better organised, integrated and supportive of the operational crews and incident commanders, the report said.
The review of New Zealand Fire Service management of the first 12 hours of its response to the quake was carried out by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service chief executive and chief fire officer Simon Pilling, who said the scale of the event would have "stretched any fire service in the world".
The independent review was commissioned to provide assurance to the new chief executive that nothing had been missed in the Fire Service's review of its national response after the quake.
"We acknowledge the loss so many people have experienced over the past 20 months,'' chief executive and national commander Paul Baxter said.
''I know that everyone who lost friends and family in the earthquake wants us, and other agencies, to extract all the learning possible from the emergency so that we are better prepared for any future disaster.
"There are lessons in this report for us and for other agencies."
As with the Fire Service report, the independent review found that firefighters responded professionally, capably and with great courage to the emergency.
It concluded that the major fire and rescue sites were ably commanded by experienced and confident senior operational staff despite the extraordinarily hazardous and challenging environment.
The review re-examined the findings of the Fire Service's report and was supportive of the many changes that have been implemented as a result.
It also looked in more detail at the role played by executive officers.
It found that the executive officers who were already in Christchurch, and those deployed to Christchurch within the first 12 to 24 hours, acted professionally but could have been better organised, integrated and supportive of the operational crews and incident commanders.
Baxter said this reflected the previous report and he accepted that different decisions about incident management could have been made.
"It is clear that everyone did their best with the resources they had in the face of a catastrophic event,'' he said.
''I am very proud of our national response and in particular am humbled by the courage of our very experienced frontline officers and crews who did everything possible to save as many lives as they could."
He accepted the review's conclusions that the quake brought to the surface some tensions between Christchurch managers and staff.
"I am addressing these issues and have made significant progress in recent months," he said.
Denis Fitzmaurice, president of the Southern branch of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union, welcomed the review.
"The Simon Pilling report addresses the concerns raised by the union and its members in Christchurch after the February earthquake," he said.
"The union is extremely proud of its members, their professionalism, dedication to duty and bravery during this seminal event in our city's history.
"We acknowledge the changes in personnel at senior management level in Christchurch and the wider region."
Fitzmaurice said firefighters and the union were encouraged by the offer to work with Baxter, regional manager Trevor Brown and their new team in implementing the review's recommendations regionally and nationally.
Brown said he and Baxter would be working with staff and the union to put in place the recommendations of the review.
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July 30, 2012, 09:31:15 AM