The New Zealand Fire Service Commission’s report into the explosion and fire at the Icepak Coolstore in Tamahere, Hamilton, resulting in the death of Senior Station Officer, Derek Lovell, and seriously injuring seven other firefighters, was recently released.

The report found that the explosion and fire was almost certainly caused by a leak of flammable refrigerant ignited by an electrical event, when the firefighters were in the plant room. The New Zealand Fire Service Commission appointed an inquiry team into circumstances surrounding the incident and the NZ Fire Service’s preparedness. The report also found that based on the information available at the time, the NZ Fire Service was adequately prepared for this incident. Specific matters in the inquiry team’s recommendations include the following: the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (“HSNO”) regulations and standards should be amended so that stationary refrigeration systems, and the refrigerant they contain, are subject to appropriate controls; all large-scale flammable gas installations should by law require inclusion of stenching agents in the gas; the regulatory regime as a whole should be reviewed to promote the sharing of information about hazardous substances between regulatory and other interested agencies; Fire Service operational instructions on the use of gas detectors should be reviewed to provide more detailed information; among others.

This indicates that the fundamental cause of the incident may lie in part in systemic defects in the regulatory environment and the communication between the various regulatory agencies. This is an issue that may deserve wider investigation by the Government, alerts the organization’s press release.