Fire Service puts safe wheels plan in motion

The Fire Service has completed a thorough investigation into the April incident in Wellington where a fire appliance lost its left rear wheels when returning to station after a callout.



Arapawa Fire Region Manager, Bill Butzbach, said the general findings of the investigation highlighted aspects of the existing wheel management system that were unable to prevent the incident outside the Mt Victoria Tunnel.



“Our current procedures involve regular wheel nut checks with a professional tyre provider, twice daily driver checks at career stations and weekly checks at volunteer stations,” said Mr Butzbach. “In general, these checks have proved to be perfectly satisfactory in identifying potential issues. Clearly in this instance, there was a failure in the process but the corrective action plan we have developed will fully address this to ensure there is no reoccurrance.”



The investigation team’s recommendations for corrective action include:



· Introducing wheel nut indicators to all Fire Service owned and/or operated appliances



· Introducing a standardised ‘sticker system’ which will act as a visual prompt for drivers to regularly check wheel nuts



· Standardising contracts with professional tyre providers for wheel maintenance across all regions.



· Updating training material related to wheel management on driver training courses.





“These additional checking and monitoring practices will soon be implemented on our entire fleet of over 800 appliances,” Mr Butzbach said. “Our over-riding concern is to assure the public, and our firefighters, that they can have complete confidence in the maintenance of fire appliances and their ability to respond safely and effectively to every incident.”