Emails released by the New Zealand Defence force under the Official Information Act reveal it was approached by Fenz for help during an industrial dispute in August.
Assistance was ultimately not required during the two limited, hour-long strikes that went ahead on August 19 and August 26.
Two further strikes planned for September 2 and September 9 were averted following the intervention of Minister of Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti at the end of August, which got Fenz and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union back to negotiations.
An email from an unidentified member of the NZDF strategic commitments and engagements branch to Fenz national response manager Paul Turner on August 15 noted that dealing with fires, crashes, hazardous substances, and rescue events all appeared to be "very specific skill sets that I can’t imagine are learnt in a day or two", and that Fenz had not given an idea of numbers or personnel that might be needed.
In response, Mr Turner clarified that assistance would be requested "in the event of further periods of industrial action for longer periods of time", in which case Fenz would be seeking assistance from the military to staff up to six appliances, each with a four-person crew, in major urban areas to carry out basic firefighting against structure fires.
"Fire and Emergency would provide basic training on how to establish water to the appliance, operate the pump, establish a delivery, and how to hold the hose and branch," Mr Turner said.
On August 17 an email from Air Commodore Darryn Webb to Fenz chief executive Kerry Gregory sought to make clear that while the two August strikes planned at that stage would not require help, but "any subsequent industrial action, while not yet confirmed, is likely to result in NZDF assistance being requested".
The requested contingent of 24 personnel would be made up of heavy vehicle drivers and regular soldiers who would work along volunteers, and non-union Fenz staff to deal with fires.
The two-week notification period for any strike would be used to get them trained.
His understanding was confirmed by Mr Gregory later that afternoon, who added that he had instructed his team to only request NZDF support if industrial action was raised to a level that it was "unable to provide a sustainable response".
Since the September strikes were cancelled, an email from Mr Turner on September 5 confirmed to the NZDF that a "warning order" was ready to go but he had been asked to hold it due to recent developments with the union.
