North Wales Fire and Rescue Service will welcome a new Chief Fire Officer this summer.

Dawn Docx, who is currently the Deputy Chief Fire Officer at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, will be taking over as Chief Fire Officer in North Wales when Simon Smith retires later this year.

Mrs Docx joined North Wales Fire and Rescue Service in June 2006 as an Assistant Chief Officer for finance and procurement. She was promoted to the role of Deputy Chief Fire Officer in 2009 and left the Service in 2017 to take up the role of Deputy Chief Fire Officer at Greater Manchester Fire Service.

Cllr Peter Lewis, Chair of North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority said: “I am delighted to welcome Dawn back to North Wales. There will be many challenges post COVID and we are confident Dawn will address those challenges and maintain the high standards that the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service are renowned for and we look forward to working with her in the near future.”

Mrs Docx said: “I am immensely proud to be returning to North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and look forward to continuing the excellent work in making North Wales a safer place to live, work and visit. Our role is to prevent, protect and respond and within my new role I will strive to make sure we do this as effectively as possible.”