International Firefighters’ Day/Whakanuia Ngā Kaipatuahi

Today is International Firefighters’ Day/Whakanuia Ngā Kaipatuahi, a day where we acknowledge and honour the mahi of all firefighters and those who support them in keeping Aotearoa safe.

We hope everyone is taking some time today to mark the day – if you do, please send us photos that we can share.

During the day you may pass a billboard with a message of thanks to our firefighters, hear radio stations give a shout out to our people, and see social media posts. Tonight the sky tower will be up in red and blue to honour and acknowledge the service of all past and present firefighters – in New Zealand and across the world. The colours are symbolic of the main elements firefighters work with – red for fire and blue for water. These colours are also internationally recognised as representing emergency services.

International Firefighters’ Day/ Whakanuia Ngā Kaipatuahi is also a day to remember firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The day was established in 1999 to honour the lives of five firefighters who died in a wildfire in Victoria, Australia. 

This year, we take a moment to remember the loss of our two fallen firefighters from Muriwai Dave and Craig as well as our past firefighters who have died while serving our community or dedicated their lives to protecting the safety of us all.

We also stand with our Queensland Fire and Emergency Service colleagues as they grieve the loss of one of their own in the last couple of days. Our thoughts and prayers are with their second firefighter who is in hospital.

To our firefighters on International Firefighters Day, thank you, ngā mihi ki a koutou.