Gold star firefighter
When the siren sounded in Willowby more than 26 years ago, Debs Stilgoe-Brooker stood at a crossroads watching the fire truck wait at its station, with no crew available to respond.
“I stood there at the roadside with a friend, while the siren was blaring,” she recalled. “Our husbands were both in the brigade at the time, and we thought, ‘We could have had the truck out by now!’ A few months later, we joined.”
That decision led to an extraordinary milestone.
On August 2, Stilgoe-Brooker received the New Zealand Fire Service Gold Star, recognising more than 25 years of operational service.
She became the first woman from a rural brigade in Mid-South Canterbury to receive the honour.
“It really is making history,” she said. “Which is really exciting.”
Just four Gold Stars have been awarded to women in Canterbury to date, all from urban brigades.
Originally from the United Kingdom, Stilgoe-Brooker had little family in New Zealand when she arrived. Instead, she found one in the Willowby Volunteer Fire Brigade.
“The brigade became my family for many years,” she said.
Over the years, her willingness to put her hand up saw Stilgoe-Brooker complete qualifications, take on leadership roles and, in 2021, become the first woman to lead a volunteer fire brigade as Fire Chief in Canterbury.
“I always put my hand up for opportunities,” she told the Guardian.
“Paperwork didn't frighten me, so I was happy to do exams and qualifications. That just helped me get through, until all of a sudden it's like I'm at the top.”
She stepped down as chief in 2023, but remains an operational firefighter and active member of the brigade.
Her firefighting career has unfolded alongside raising a family, often in extraordinary circumstances.
Stilgoe-Brooker fought a major fire at the Ashburton landfill just days before giving birth to her eldest daughter, Penny, when firefighters were in short supply.
“I fought fire three days before I gave birth,” she laughed.
“At that time there were no rules to say that I couldn’t, and there was a need, so I did!”
Later, as a young mother, she often took her daughters along to brigade activities.
“I always used to take my kids with me to the fireground. We all packed up into a little green car, it was our routine.”
Today, that dedication has become a family legacy.
Penny now serves with the Willowby and Ashburton volunteer brigades, while Stilgoe-Brooker’s younger daughter, Amy Stilgoe, is a firefighter with Pines Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade near Christchurch.
Amy received her own five-year service honour at the same ceremony as her mother, while Penny flew home from the United Kingdom for less than 48 hours to be there.
“She flew all the way home just to see me receive the award,” Stilgoe-Brooker said.
The role of volunteer firefighters has changed significantly during her 26 years of service.
“When I joined in 1999, we just wanted to turn up and fight fires,” she said.
Today, volunteers also respond to medical emergencies, motor vehicle crashes and rescue incidents.
Despite the additional demands, the thrill of responding has never disappeared.
“I've got to admit, it's a buzz.
“When you see smoke and you see flames, there's a rush. It’s fear and it’s respect.”
That respect comes from painful experience.
Stilgoe-Brooker is the only current Willowby Brigade member who was there in 2009 when fellow firefighter Barry Keen was killed while operating a fire pump during a callout.
“People still say, ‘but you're only a volunteer.’ Not everybody comes home,” she said quietly.
“It's one of my mantras, that people go and fight fires and they come home safely. Unfortunately, I know not everybody does.”
The experience shaped her leadership and her determination to ensure firefighters returned safely to their families.
One of the most rewarding parts of her career has been seeing attitudes towards women in firefighting change.
“I wasn't great at doing the cake sales, and I can't knit,” she laughed.
“Everybody's got their strengths. I can fight fire. I’m very good at that.”
She remembers visiting schools and kindergartens with the fire truck, where children would tell her she could not be a fireman because she was a girl.
Her response was simple.
“Yes, I can. I can drive the fire truck. I can put the wet stuff on the hot stuff.”
She hopes her story will encourage other women to consider volunteering.
“If any woman reads this and goes, ‘Oh, I can actually go and be a volunteer,’ then that's fantastic.
“But even if you're 60 years old and don't want to fight fires, there are still ways to serve your community through your local brigade. We're about risk reduction and helping people, not just putting out fires.”
Retirement still isn't on Stilgoe-Brooker’s mind.
“I'm not ready to give up yet,” she said. “I still feel I've got more to offer.”
It all began with a siren, a crossroads and one simple thought.
“We could have had the truck out by now.”
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