Four outstanding young emergency services champions have been revealed as Western Australian Fire and Emergency Services (WAFES) award winners, with one to be announced as the inaugural WAFES Young Person of the Year later this year.
Two new awards recognising younger members of the fire and emergency services family were added to the WAFES Awards program in 2026 – the WAFES Young Person of the Year and DFES Young Person of the Year.
Winners in the regions include Mid West Gascoyne volunteer firefighter Danielle Ryder, 27, who is supporting cadets to enter brigades and 19-year-old Zac Hill, a Karratha State Emergency Service (SES) volunteer who completed more training in his first 12 months than most have in several years.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) district emergency management advisor Shelby Robinson, 24, from the Goldfields Midlands, was also honoured for strengthening collaboration between agencies in two of the State’s largest emergency management districts.
In the Perth metropolitan area, Marine Rescue Whitfords volunteer Sophie Robins, 24, was recognised for her bravery helping to prevent a vessel fire from spreading through Hillarys Boat Harbour.
The WAFES Young Person of the Year will be selected from the winners of each of the four young people awards across volunteer firefighting, Marine Rescue, SES and DFES.
“Every year the WAFES Awards help to acknowledge, thank and celebrate emergency services personnel for the incredible job they do protecting Western Australians and in September we have the honour of presenting 17 individual, team and young people awards,” said Acting Emergency Services Minister, Tony Buti.
“These four courageous young people have made a lasting and positive impact on our emergency services and community spirit.
“The inaugural WAFES Young Person of the Year Award signifies the highest level of achievement and I’m sure they will be an inspiration to future generations.”
They will join the 35 individual and team award finalists, announced on 4 June, at the WAFES Awards Gala Dinner at Crown Perth on Saturday, 5 September.
The judging panel for the WAFES Young Person of the Year award comprises of Deputy Commissioner for Young People at the Department of Justice Rick Curtis, 2025 WA Young Person of the Year Maddison Thomas; Om Sharma, member of the Ministerial Youth Advisory Council; and Scott Millar, a leading generational strategist who is one of Australia’s top 30 business leaders under 30 and will be a keynote speaker at the WAFES conference. The panel is chaired by DFES manager of volunteer liaison Kristi Milana.
For more information visit www.dfes.wa.gov.au/wafesawards.
