September 02, 2026 - 168 views
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service's first female Chief Fire Officer is to retire at the end of the year, bringing to a close a 32-year career across three fire and rescue services.
Dawn Docx will step down on 31 December, having led North Wales Fire and Rescue Service since 2021. She previously served as the service's Assistant Chief Officer and Deputy Chief Fire Officer before spending four years with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Her career has included some significant incidents and periods of change for the fire and rescue sector. During her time in Greater Manchester, she was involved in the response to the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack and was in overall charge during the major Saddleworth Moor wildfire in 2018.
Her return to North Wales came during the Covid pandemic, when she took over from Simon Smith, who had spent two decades as Chief Fire Officer. Since then, she has overseen work on areas including organisational culture, on-call firefighter availability and training.
Her departure comes after an exceptionally demanding summer for firefighters across North Wales. The service dealt with multiple wildfires, including major incidents on Conwy Mountain near Capelulo, Bangor Mountain and in the Rhinogydd near Harlech. At one stage, 36 properties near Conwy Mountain were evacuated as crews tackled the blaze.
CFO Docx said the response to this summer's wildfires and other "spate conditions" had made her immensely proud of what the service had achieved.
She said she had decided after "a great deal of reflection" that the time was right to retire, adding that she was looking forward to spending more time with her family while considering what the next chapter in public service might bring.
The timing also gives the service several months to manage the leadership change. Dawn Docx will remain in post until the end of December to provide continuity, with the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority now preparing to recruit her successor.
Her successor will inherit a service facing a range of pressures, including maintaining firefighter availability, recruitment and training, adapting to changing patterns of risk and continuing work on its organisational culture.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has previously commissioned independent work examining its culture and promotion processes, following concerns raised by staff and representative bodies. The service has introduced measures including clearer promotion criteria, anonymised recruitment and independent oversight as part of its continuing improvement programme.
Chair of the Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor Dylan Rees, thanked Dawn Docx for her leadership and said she leaves "a strong foundation" for the service to build on.
The recruitment process for the next Chief Fire Officer is expected to begin shortly.
