Fire Investigation Report into the cause and origin of the 2019 New Zealand International Conference Centre fire

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has released the Fire Investigation Report determining the cause and origin of the fire at the New Zealand International Conference Centre in central Auckland on 22 October 2019.

The convention centre was a large building of seven levels with a total floor area of 32,500 square metres. It was under construction at the time of the fire and was due for completion in 2020.

It was a large and dangerous fire and had a serious impact on the city of Auckland. During the fire crews from all over Auckland, as well as staff from across New Zealand assisted in bringing the fire under control.

At the fire's peak there were around 150 firefighters at the scene and up to 30 fire appliances .

The subsequent cause and origin investigation into the NZ International Conference Centre fire concluded the cause of the fire was accidental.

Investigators found the fire was inadvertently caused when the top layers of a waterproofing membrane – or cap sheet - were being laid on the roof of the convention centre.

Because of the significance and complexity of the conference centre fire, Fire and Emergency NZ had its investigation report independently peer reviewed.

The independent peer reviewers Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC.) They agreed with the investigators’ conclusions.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Fire Investigation report into the New Zealand International Conference Centre fire.

Independant Operational Review

Fire and Emergency New Zealand commissioned an independent operational review into the management of the NZICC fire to provide the opportunity to learn more about managing large complex fires in the centre of our biggest city.

We are committed to continuous improvement and we commission these types of independent reviews regularly when there have been significant or unusual events.

The Independent Operational Review, New Zealand International Convention Centre fire, found ‘Fire and Emergency New Zealand personnel were able to draw on their expert knowledge of firefighting in the urban environment to manage the incident safely and effectively with the resources to hand.’

The report is a fair review of our management of a very significant event and made 11 recommendations. We have already begun progress on addressing a number of those recommendations and are working through how we will address the others.

Action Plan and update

Fire and Emergency New Zealand developed the NZICC Action Plan to address the recommendations of the AFAC Independent Operational Review.

The New Zealand built environment is evolving and ever-growing and we want to ensure we improve how we manage long duration structural incidents. We have developed this action plan in response to the lessons and opportunities the independent review identified and recommended.

Fire and Emergency accepts the report is a fair review of our management of a very significant event and intends to take action to address the 11 recommendations made. This action plan outlines how we will respond to these recommendations.

The actions and timeframes for achieving these are subject to change as they need to be balanced against the other areas of organisation development and prioritisation and generally this will be achieved through the organisations formal investment prioritisation process.

New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) Action Plan

New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) Action Plan Update - 30 April 2022