1:32:28 Thursday 23 October 2025

Firefighter stripped of rank

One of the country's best-known firefighters has been stripped of his rank.

Mike McEnaney is a paid permanent firefighter and a senior fire investigator in Auckland, as well as a volunteer at the small Northland brigade at Mangawhai.


Senior firefighter Mike McEnaney has been stripped of his rank at a volunteer brigade. Photo: Jason Oxenham/ Fairfax NZ.

He is accused of using foul language to a subordinate and has been stripped of his rank because the station under his command was considered "severely dysfunctional and would remain so unless there was a change in leadership", reports Stuff.

Mike is also a former president of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union and regularly appears in the media promoting fire safety.

A NZ Fire spokesperson says three past members of the brigade complained about Mike in his capacity as officer in charge.

A complaint for another brigade had also been received.

However, after an independent review by Wellington employment law barrister Karen Radich, no complaints could be substantiated, reports Stuff.

"Some claims were made about bullying dating back several years. These were impossible to investigate because of their age and lack of evidence," says the spokesman.

However, Mike was found to have been involved in a 'one-off instance of poor behaviour” where he threatened to 'f***ing knock” the head off one of his subordinates.

This was witnessed by another officer, reports Stuff.

An investigation into the incident found that the threat not to qualify as bullying but was deemed inappropriate.

'While threatening the subordinate in response to what was deemed a "provocative statement" about Mike disliking volunteers, Karen's report stated that "the Officer in Charge's language and behaviour were ... inappropriate" - but did not amount to bullying.

"Ms Radich concluded Mr McEnaney had behaved inappropriately, but that he had not breached any standards of conduct and there were not sufficient grounds to dismiss Mr McEnaney from the brigade," the Fire Service spokesman says.

A mediator employed to manage a brigade meeting last month found the station to be 'severely dysfunctional”.

'Such dysfunction has the potential to put public safety at risk and also to jeopardise the brigade's long-term sustainability,” says Whangarei area manager Wipari Henwood.

As such, he decided Mike could no longer be officer in charge of the station, but he would remain as a station officer.

"There was a level of dysfunction there and he was the leader of that brigade.

"I stood down the officer down. He was a senior station officer and now he's just a station officer," says Wipari.

'Some brigade members want the former Officer in Charge dismissed, not demoted. However, a dismissal is not possible under the brigade's rules, given that two investigations found a lack of substances of bullying," says a Fire Service spokesman.

7 comments

Needs to resign

Posted on 27-09-2015 09:33 | By Fun in the Sun

If he has any self respect he will quietly disappear.


Unacceptable..

Posted on 27-09-2015 16:19 | By maildrop

..behaviour and facial hair.


fireman

Posted on 27-09-2015 17:18 | By dumbkof2

you are so self righteous arnt you. kick a man when he is down


C'mon guys

Posted on 29-09-2015 19:30 | By Papamoaner

You don't have the proof to make those nasty comments. There is a long history around volunteers and permanent staff, not just in the fire service either. is it really appropriate to save money by exploiting volunteers? And is it fair on the qualified professionals who have made a career of it? There is more to this than meets the eye.


I'll try again....

Posted on 29-09-2015 21:43 | By GreertonBoy

What about all of the good work this man has done? So, he may be a bit gruff in his demeanour, but I bet he got the job done well, up until someone saw his 'go to attitude' as mean and nasty? Maybe when something is important, he might say something like "do it like this or I'll knock your block off... but that doesn't mean he will actually assault anyone... give the guy a fair go... if his station was deemed 'somewhat dysfunctional' then he should have been advised or retrained how to sort it better. I bet he has done far more good than what may be deemed 'bad' to someone not used to a 'go to' guys way of speaking or dealing with issues. Give the guy a break... they said he was looked at for 'bullying' and found not tobe?


Firemen...

Posted on 30-09-2015 09:38 | By morepork

... are not usually so fragile as to be destroyed by the F word. This man has given a great deal to the community and if he is a bit rough around the edges then it is incumbent on his superiors to have a quiet word and get him straight. Poor morale at a Fire Station is a serious problem but it could be resolved internally without the need to publicly embarrass this man. If he's a bully, that needs to be addressed, but the failure here is with his superiors.I agree with GreertonBoy on this.


Any update?

Posted on 02-10-2015 12:41 | By GreertonBoy

I hope the department sees sense and gets him back on duty, unless they can prove he is genuinely not worthy of the job... I hope some of the people he has helped in the past, get behind him and support him.... I bet many people he has helped have thanked him profusely... well, give the guy a hand..... instead of a kick in the pants


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