Pippa Williams
Pippa Williams (1994) grew up in Scarborough and, after primary schooling at St John’s, came to Newman in 1990 for Years 8 and 9 at Newman Siena in Doubleview, and then for Years 10 to 12 at Newman College, Churchlands.
Pippa, who was followed by her younger sister Mia Fox (Williams 1997), loved her time at Newman. She bonded with an incredibly strong group of friends and they are still her closest friends today, 30 years later.
After school Pippa studied Physical and Health Education at UWA and, in her third year, completed a prac placement at the WA Police Academy in the Physical Training Department. At the time she had an inkling that being a PE teacher wasn’t perhaps the right fit, and liked what she saw at the Police Academy. Pippa finished her degree and then went to the USA where she worked at a summer camp and travelled for three months. On her return, aged 21, she joined the WA Police Force.
Pippa spent four years with the Police, but a conversation with Anna Wood (Georgiades 1994), one of her friends from school, changed the course of her life. At the time Anna worked for the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA), now the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) in Communications and Recruitment. She suggested that Pippa should have a go at applying for the Fire and Rescue Service as she thought she would really like it.
Pippa applied, but didn’t get in on her first try. The desire to become a firefighter took hold however, and on her second attempt in 2003, aged 25, she was successful and part of Trainee Firefighter School 53.
After graduating Pippa went to Perth Fire Station as a reliever, where she had the opportunity to work at many stations and with many crews across the metro area. After three years Pippa attained a position at Duncraig Fire Station where she worked for 14 years gaining experience in all operational aspects of the job including bushfire fighting, structural firefighting, rescue and HAZMAT.
Pippa has also completed four secondments to the Communications Centre where she answered 000 calls, dispatched jobs to crews and communicated with crews at incidents as a radio operator. Over the past five years Pippa has developed a keen interest in training, and has spent time at the Academy instructing trainee firefighters in Breathing Apparatus and Internal Structural Firefighting. She has travelled throughout the state in her role including to Christmas Island to train volunteer firefighters in Breathing Apparatus, and leading a Taskforce in Exmouth for the Total Solar Eclipse.
After deciding to take the next step in her career progression, Pippa applied for and successfully completed the selection process for Station Officer training. After completing the course throughout 2020 she was promoted to the rank of Station Officer in November that year. Today she is one of three Station Officers at Daglish Fire Station on A Platoon, covering the Western Suburbs from Subiaco to the coast.
With over 21 years of service Pippa still loves her career as much as when she first started. She enjoys knowing that the work she and her crew do is meaningful, and is helping to make our community a safer place. She also loves the camaraderie amongst her workmates and the opportunity her career has provided for the perfect work-life balance for raising her family (operating on two 10-hour days followed by two 14-hours nights, then four days off).
As a Station Officer she enjoys the station management side of her role but also loves attending operational incidents, leading a crew. Whilst the work can often be under high pressure conditions, responding to critical incidents where members of the community are potentially having a very bad day, Pippa has found immense personal and professional growth in her role, dealing with the unexpected challenges and the opportunities to learn from every incident, every day.
We hope to have Pippa at a future Careers’ Breakfast to inspire our Year 12s to consider a career in the Fire and Rescue Service after they have gained some life experience in the years after leaving school.
Pippa’s partner is Shane Chester (1994) and they have three sons who have all come to Newman since kindergarten: Jaxon (2023), Luca (Year 11) and Griffin (Year 8). Pippa and Shane chose Newman for their boys to have the same fantastic schooling experience they both had.
We weren’t surprised Pippa was one of the organisers of the 1994 Reunion in October and had a great time catching up with everyone!
