About Us
President
Kate Hill —
New Zealand Fire Service
Born and raised in England, Kate moved to New Zealand in 1998. She spent her early years living across the road from a fire station and the thought never came into her head that she, as a female, could become a firefighter
Forward to 2001 and an advert was placed in the Women’s Day magazine faced by a female firefighter calling for applicants to become firefighters. Kate applied and never looked back.
Having served nearly 18 years in Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) as a firefighter and officer, Kate is currently on secondment at Fire and Emergency NZ National Headquarters as a National Operations Advisor becoming the first uniformed female at National office.
This year Kate had been elected as President of Women and Firefighting Australasia (WAFA), and will enjoy taking on the challenge. She states “WAFA is a great organisation and I’m excited to build on the great foundations to help take it to the next level, so hopefully one-day gender diversity will no longer be an issue and WAFA wouldn’t have to exist.”
Kate also serves on the FENZ Uniform Advisory Group, helping to ensure our firefighters have the best uniform and protective clothing possible. She is also a staunch advocate to ensure women have the correct uniform they need, not just small men’s clothing.
She is a Graduate member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, National Compartment Fire Behaviour Training (CFBT) trainer and Regional Realistic Fire Training Building (RFTB) trainer.