Major honours for northern WA emergency services volunteers

A volunteer firefighter who put his community’s needs before his own during Tropical Cyclone Narelle and a Marine Rescue team that stopped at nothing to rescue passengers from a grounded vessel are among the winners of the 2026 Western Australian Fire and Emergency Services (WAFES) Awards from the State’s north.

Seventeen awards were presented to honour the outstanding achievements of personnel across firefighting, emergency management, State Emergency Service (SES) and Marine Rescue at the gala dinner at Crown Perth last night.

This year a new category, WAFES Young Person of the Year, was added to the program to highlight the impressive contribution of the future leaders of WA’s emergency services.

In northern WA, four award winners were acknowledged for their exceptional dedication to protecting communities over the past year.

Karratha volunteer Zac Hill, 19, received the SES Young Person of the Year Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to undertaking specialist training.

Onslow brigade captain Adam Conwell received the Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services Individual Achievement Award for selflessly putting the needs of the community ahead of damage to his own property in the wake of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle.

Marine Rescue Dampier won the Marine Rescue Team Achievement Award for their dramatic rescue of four people and a dog from a 12m catamaran grounded on a reef off the Pilbara coast.

They were among 35 finalists and four young person winners selected from 139 nominations, more than half of which were volunteers.

Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm AFSM said personnel across the northern regions of the State displayed resilience and a strong commitment to keeping Western Australians safe.

“Work was relentless for staff and volunteers in the north with 11 cyclones, seven of which reached severe tropical cyclone strength,” he said.

“Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle crossed three States before turning, making landfall near Exmouth and causing extensive damage to homes and infrastructure.

“Brigades, groups and units came together, with both new and long-serving members braving challenging conditions to ensure impacted communities recovered quickly.”

DFES volunteer and career personnel responded to around 44,522 incidents since April 2025, including more than 6,200 bushfires, 4,200 road crash rescues and 1,700 structure fires.

Commissioner Klemm said this year’s spotlight on young people in emergency services showed the organisation’s willingness to embrace new ideas, generational change and emerging volunteers.

“It is great to further highlight our future leaders with two new young person awards. Their incredible efforts are strengthening emergency services today and guiding it tomorrow,” he said.

“All the winners embody the spirit of service, community and resilience that defines WA’s emergency services.”