Incident at Oranga Tamariki youth justice facility Korowai Manaaki in Auckland

Police and firefighters have been called to an incident at an Auckland youth justice facility this afternoon, the second such callout in a week.

The exact nature of the incident is not yet known.

Oranga Tamariki, who run the facility – 40-bed Korowai Manaaki in the South Auckland suburb of Wiri – have been contacted for comment.

They’ve sent two fire trucks after being contacted by police at 2.39pm, a Fire and Emergency spokesman said.

He referred further comment to police.

Police said in a statement they were “assisting with an incident” at the facility.

“Police were alerted to the incident at 12.40pm today.”

They referred further comment to Oranga Tamariki.

The incident is the second at a youth justice facility in a week, after a staff member received a broken wrist and four young people spent the night in the roof cavity of Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo youth justice facility near Christchurch last Saturday.

A fifth youth had also escaped to the roof but came down on Saturday night.

The remaining four were brought down by ladder on Sunday morning, 24 hours after the incident began, and put in police custody.

However, Oranga Tamariki were criticised when it was revealed that after the stand-off came to an end the youths were given KFC, Stuff reported.

Those involved were “vulnerable young people” and their first approach was always to use least harmful ways to convince them to come down safely on their own terms,” Oranga Tamariki deputy chief Mike Bush told Newshub.

“Fast food was part of the negotiations and additional items were also used to attempt to bring the young people down throughout the day and overnight, such as clothing and hot drinks.”

There was no risk to public safety, but it was a “serious situation … managed with extreme caution”, Bush said.

“We acknowledge the significant support from police … I will be thoroughly reviewing what has led to this occurring.”

The incident was the second at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo in four months, with six police vehicles and a fire truck called to the building in February after young people could be heard yelling out to each other from inside.

At least two young people were seen pacing on the facility’s roof.